Bloodlines
by Sophia Hawkins
Summary: Following "Dearest Brother" and "The Heiress". Methos is called upon by Kronos in the afterlife to deliver a shocking message.
1. Chapter 1

Bloodlines

It was late at night and most of the residents in Seacouver were already in bed or they were getting there. Methos at that time was in his apartment standing under a hot shower as he too got ready for bed. It had been a long day and he was looking forward to laying down and closing his eyes and forgetting about everything. He had been considering packing up his things and hightailing it to some other corner of the world again for a change in scenery, and also to get away from MacLeod for a while. Methos would never admit it to MacLeod, but where he was concerned, the two of them were like brothers, but they acted _more_ like an old married couple. And MacLeod was the nitpicker of the couple, always nagging Methos for every little thing that he didn't agree with; and even a 5,000 year old man has his limits on just how much he takes before he finally ups and leaves.

For a few minutes he stood under the hot water, half awake and his eyelids growing heavier and him becoming oblivious to his surroundings. Then, out of nowhere, he felt the slightest hint of the quickening of another Immortal nearby. His eyes opened wide and he turned around just as the shower curtain was jerked open.

"Surprise!"

Coming face to face with his dead brother once again being the last thing Methos had anticipated, it took him by more than just a slight surprise. He took a step back, lost his footing and hit his back against the shower wall as he fell.

"Well," Kronos said rather amusedly, "I knew you weren't expecting me but this is a bit much."

Methos looked up at Kronos with his eyes sharp and narrow, "You son of a…"

Kronos grinned sinisterly and laughed as he said, "Come on now, get up."

He turned off the water and grabbed a towel off the rack, pulled Methos to his feet and wrapped the towel around him.

"Sorry to barge in on you like this," Kronos said, "But I had to see you."

"What for this time?"

"You'll find out."

Kronos picked him up and despite Methos' protests and kicking and beating on Kronos with his fists, Kronos carried him into the bedroom, all the while Methos thought about if somebody were to come through his door right now and see nobody moving him across the room as was being done right now, but that thought came to an abrupt end when Kronos dumped him on the bed.

"Alright, Kronos," Methos said as he sat up, "You come in here and interfere with my life again, tell me what you came here for this time."

Kronos dug through the drawers in Methos' dresser, found a change of clothes and threw them at him. "I need you to do me a favor. It's Richie."

Methos' eyes widened when he heard that and he started getting dressed. "Is he alright?"

Kronos started to answer but stopped and just shook his head. "No, and I worry if he gets much worse, he may lose his head the next time somebody challenges him."

Now Methos was starting to feel awful. He had noticed in the last couple of weeks he hadn't seen much of the kid, but he hadn't thought anything was wrong.

"What is it?"

"It's difficult to explain, especially from where I stand," Kronos told him, "You know, no Immortal, no matter how long they live or what they do, most of their life is terrible and we all are familiar with that. It's damn near impossible to avoid. Richie, for being as young as he is, seems to have it worst above most others, and he knows this. He knows that his whole life nobody ever wanted him, the only person who did, died on him. For 13 years he was bounced around like a basketball to people who didn't want him and didn't care about him. And then, the person who willingly takes him in, bitches about everything he does, sends him away, then turns on him and tries to take his head not once but twice. And how's his life going at this moment? Not much better, which is why he's been drinking like a fish the last two months trying either to drown himself or to black it all out from his mind. If he keeps this up, the next time somebody comes looking for him he might not even have the _want_ to stay alive. As far as that boy is concerned, nobody wants him now, and nobody ever did, and nothing's looking much better in his future."

"So what do you want me to do?" Methos asked.

Kronos looked at him somberly as he answered. "It's going to hurt Richie even more than he already is, but I want you to tell him about me. He needs to know that there was somebody in his life who gave a damn about him, and I can't do that. If I do, he won't remember me, he's all but forgotten about me, if I try and tell him, he'll just think he's going crazy, and he'll get even worse. He knows you, Methos, he trusts you, he'll listen to you."

"I don't understand," Methos replied, "What good is it going to do Richie now that you're dead?"

"Don't worry about that, I'll take care of that part myself, but first I need you to tell him about me, he needs to remember before I can do him any good," Kronos said.

Methos hated himself for saying it, but he told Kronos that he would do it. With a slight smile on his face, Kronos thanked him and disappeared before Methos' very eyes. When he was gone, Methos threw his head back against the pillows and sighed, what had he gotten himself into now?

He recalled the conversation the two of them had had that night not too long ago in the afterlife, regarding Kronos' past with Richie, but how was Methos even going to _begin_ explaining it all to Richie that the man he knew was the world dominant power hungry bastard that MacLeod had killed? Where was he even going to start to explain to Richie that the man he knew before he moved in with MacLeod, and his brother was the same person?

And then, the answer came to him almost immediately, and he wondered why he hadn't thought of it sooner. A memory came back to him from the day that he and Kronos left on the first airplane on their way out to the Ukraine to pick up Silas. While they were at the airport waiting for the departure time to come up, Kronos had been going out of his mind with impatience, and Methos did something that if they weren't in a public setting might have gotten him killed. At the time, he didn't know why or how the thought came to him, but Methos reached into his bag and pulled out his camera and called to his brother. Kronos turned around just in time for the flash to blind him for a second, and once he was able to see through the spots, he marched over to Methos and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket to the point he was choking Methos.

"You son of a…"

Methos pried Kronos' curled fingers out of their death grip and all but snapped them backwards to get Kronos to back off. Once Methos was able to breathe again, he started laughing and commented only, "You should've seen your face."

Kronos grabbed the camera and was ready to smash it when he saw the picture had already come out. In the split second that it took for him to turn around before the flash went off, Methos had gotten a perfect shot of him. Kronos didn't know what to make of it, and he didn't want to know, he just looked at Methos and said to him, "You're sick, you know that don't you?"

Methos had tucked the picture away in his bag and had forgotten all about it until just that moment. He sprang up from the bed and searched through his closet until he found the bag he'd taken with him, and searching through its contents he'd never bothered to unpack, he found the picture, surprisingly enough it was in as good a condition as the day it was taken. This would be a good start, he knew, because no matter how Kronos might have looked when Richie last saw him, he would have to know it was the same man.

Looking up from the picture and into the mirror above the dresser, Methos saw that he was crying. This always seemed to happen whenever Kronos paid him a visit. It had about killed Methos when Kronos died, and he knew the worst part of it was never getting to see his brother again. But something had happened to change all that, and now Kronos was able to come and go and appear and disappear from the afterlife whenever he felt his presence was needed back among the living. Strange though it was, to Methos it was therapeutic to know that his brother could hear what he said, and also that he was able to hear what Kronos still had to say; that was one thing about death, it had failed to shut Kronos up. Although, Methos wasn't sure even after he told Richie what he was supposed to, how the boy would react to seeing Kronos appear with a message from beyond the grave.

Tired and confused, Methos fell back against the bed, pulled the covers over him and went to bed and hoped that by morning he would have figured something out.

* * *

It was the scream that woke him up. He all but threw himself out of bed as he got up and tried to figure out where the scream was coming from. He realized it was coming directly from the room next door. Without bothering to turn on any of the lights, he dashed out of his room and into the next one where he found the boy thrashing around on the bed, awake but it seemed he was still caught up in a nightmare. He was a young boy, 16 perhaps, no more than 17, a short head of curly red hair, and a face white as a sheet, and blue eyes wide open with panic.

He lunged at the boy and pinned him down against the mattress. The boy screamed even louder and struggled to get loose.

"Richie, calm down!"

The boy didn't answer and it didn't appear that he'd heard the order at all. He screamed and dug his nails into the sheets, trying to pull himself away.

"Calm down, Richie, nobody's going to hurt you." He wrapped his arms tightly around the boy's waist so he couldn't get away.

"That's what you say!" the youth screamed accusingly in response, "That's what they all say, but I know better!"

Richie started screaming as if he was in pain and he fell flat against the mattress. He let go of the boy and sat on the bed next to him and rubbed his back as he listened to the child cry and scream and choke and carry on.

This wasn't the first night Richie had done this, that much he knew. There had been several nights like this; all long and exhausting, all of them finally nearing an end right before the sun came up.

"It's alright, Richie," he told the boy, "It's over, nobody's here now, nobody's going to hurt you."

Whether or not Richie heard, he didn't know.

"Why…" the only word he was able to get out at first. After a minute he tried again, "Why did my mom have to die? Why did she have to leave me? The only person who ever wanted me, and she left me…nobody else ever wanted me, nobody ever did…what did I do that was so horrible that nobody else wanted me, and I had to be alone all my life?"

"Oh Richie, you're not alone…I'm here now."

* * *

Methos screamed and jerked up in bed and became aware of his surroundings. It was dark, he was in bed, and it was going on 3 o' clock in the morning. What a dream he'd just had. And yet…was it a dream? Was it _really_ a dream? Or had he somehow tapped into his brother's memories?

He was well aware how some dreams felt too much like reality; and that had certainly been the case just now. It was as if he, not Kronos, had been the one in that room with a much younger Richie some years ago. And how young Richie looked. Methos had never seen any pictures of the boy before he went to live with MacLeod so he couldn't know for certain just how different he looked then. But what he had just seen in his sleep all seemed too perfectly detailed to be a simple dream.

The more Methos thought about it, the less likely it seemed to be a dream. He could _feel_ his body falling against Richie's to stop him before he hurt himself. He could _feel_ the tremors ripping through the boy's body as he screamed and cried. Just remembering it all made him feel sick to his stomach. He couldn't imagine how it must have been for Kronos to actually have to live through it as it happened.

Now he wasn't so sure he'd be able to go through with this when he saw Richie the next day. Then on the other hand, he reminded himself, he was the only one who could do it and he _had_ to do it to help the boy. Though he honestly didn't think Richie would actually see it as being help. Already he was trying to prepare himself for what kind of reactions might come out of the kid; emotional, violent, that much was obvious and expected, but exactly how was Richie going to take the news?

As he thought about it all, he also gave entertainment to the thought that perhaps he was truly starting to lose his mind. Maybe after all these thousands of years, he was finally going insane; because that's sure as hell what it felt like right now. Now, he was starting to get a good idea of the hell that Kronos had put MacLeod through a few months ago. He'd never actually gotten around to discussing that incident with his brother; but he suspected even if he had, he wouldn't get any straight answers anyway. Kronos had a way of avoiding answering anything he didn't care to; and relentless though he was, there was always something in his life, or now afterlife, that he didn't care much to answer for.

It was late, and he was tired. Returning back to bed, he sincerely hoped that he would be able to sleep peacefully for what was left of the night.

* * *

Methos woke up at 6:30 and he felt wide awake. The sun was already starting to rise over the city and Methos knew that he had to bite the bullet. But he still wasn't sure what he was going to do. He got up, made the bed and got dressed, after which he fell back against the bed and looked up at the ceiling, wondering what he was supposed to do now. An idea came to him, he didn't know how or why exactly, but he decided that he had to tell somebody about what was going on. So he went to the phone and dialed a long distance number and waited.

He didn't have long to wait; the phone was answered after the first ring, _"Hello?"_

Kronos' widow was now on the line.

"Jezebel?"

"_Methos?"_

"Did I wake you?"

"_No," _she replied with a yawn, _"I've been up for hours. I had a horrible time sleeping last night, did you?"_

"Sort of."

"_So what's going on that you called me up? Is something wrong?"_

"I'm not sure…Jezebel, I…something happened last night."

"_Oh, what?"_

"It's going to sound weird."

"_Try me."_

"Kronos was here last night."

"_What did he want?"_

It took Methos a minute to realize that this wasn't exactly new to Jezebel.

"He said that I need to tell Richie about what happened…about when Richie was staying with him."

"_Really?"_

"Apparently Richie's in some kind of trouble. He's gotten into some kind of a slump lately, and Kronos for some reason thinks it's because he's been tossed aside by everybody who took him in over the years and he still has it in his head that nobody wants him."

"_Ah,"_ Jezebel said, _"The stuff psychiatrists' dreams are made of. Only this one isn't diverting back directly to the mother, is it?"_

"Sort of, but it's more about his father."

"_That's going to hit that kid hard,"_ Jezebel said, _"Are you sure you're up to it?"_

"No I'm not sure," Methos replied, "But I have to do it. I promised Kronos I would, and even now I can't…" if that didn't sound weird, talking about his dead brother in a lively sense, "I can't break my word to him." Never mind that he did plenty of that while Kronos was alive.

"_Do you want me to come out there and help you?" _Jezebel asked, _"Maybe it'd be easier for him to take if both of us were there to explain it."_

"I appreciate your offer, Jezebel, but I'm afraid I'm just going to have to go at it alone," Methos said, "I'm going to tell him when I see him later today."

"_Are you sure you don't need my help?"_ Jezebel asked, _"We don't have the Concorde here but if I hop on a plane I can be over there…let's see, there's about 300 miles distance between me and you and planes go about 600 miles an hour. Even without the Concorde I could be over there in about half an hour."_

Methos laughed, "I appreciate it, Jezebel, but no, you stay where you are, I'm afraid this is going to get rather messy over here."

"_So what? I'm an old woman, I'm well familiar with messy situations."_

"You better not, this is going to be pretty hard for Richie to take, and he doesn't enjoy having company around when he's upset."

"_How do you know?"_

"Because I know him. He's spent his whole life trying to hide when something bothers him, but I don't think he'll be able to hide whatever goes through him when I tell him about this. It's going to be awkward enough for him as it is, it'd probably embarrass him to death having more people around him at that time."

Jezebel laughed on the other end, _"Youth today, maybe someday he'll finally realize that it's not all about being the big macho hero."_

If he lives that long, Methos thought but didn't dare say.

"_But then again, MacLeod is much older than Richie is and **he's** still yet to figure that out...but on another hand, it's to my understanding that young men when they get upset, they're more likely to confide in a woman than another man for fear of that very thing. That they'll be looked down upon by their own kind for being weak or something." She laughed, "6000 years down the road and mankind in its entire form seems to be getting dumber. Oh well, are you sure there's nothing I can help you with?"_ Jezebel asked.

"No," Methos shook his head, "I just needed somebody to tell."

"_Well, if anybody would understand it, I can't think of a more likely candidate,"_ she replied, _"You take care of yourself, you hear?"_

"Yes, Jezebel."

"_And take care of that boy too, and I'll be seeing you guys soon."_

"Okay, Jezebel."

"_Goodbye."_

* * *

The next thing Methos did was head to the dojo. He figured he'd talk to MacLeod first and see if he had noticed any changes in Richie recently; he wanted to find out how far the damage had already gone in the kid. When he entered the place, he was immediately hit with another Immortal's quickening from somewhere nearby.

"Mac?" Methos called, "Is that you?"

He heard grunting coming from the office and he went in and saw MacLeod on his hands and knees crawling around the desk, seemingly looking for something. Oh, Methos thought as he took in the rather humorous sight before him, there was a joke in this somewhere, or perhaps several.

"Hello," Methos called out.

Duncan looked up and hit his head on the desk and groaned. "Hello yourself," he replied, "What do you want?"

"What are you doing?" Methos asked.

"Amanda was here a few days ago, and as she was leaving she told me that she left something here that I'm trying to find," Duncan explained as he got up.

"What's that?"

"She gets mad every time she comes here because she thinks I don't tell her everything that goes on…so when I wasn't looking she installed an intercom system, one upstairs in the loft, and one down here…but she wouldn't tell me where they were, and I've been going crazy trying to find them. And that's not the only problem I'm having right now."

Methos could guess. "Is it Richie?"

Duncan nodded, "He came over last night, blind-stinking-drunk," he replied matter-of-factly, "He's been doing this quite a bit lately, last night was just the first time he came over here afterwards."

"Is he still here?"

"He's sleeping it off on the couch," Duncan said, "I don't know what's gotten into him. If he keeps this up…"

"I know, I know, he's going to lose his head the next time somebody challenges him," Methos said.

"Exactly."

"Well," Methos crossed his arms, "Seeing as how well I know you, what did you plan on doing when he wakes up?"

"I…"

"MacLeod," Methos cut him off, "Keep in mind that if you say anything to him that sounds like your usual domineering, holier-than-thou, do-as-I-say-or-else tone which you have become notorious for using with Richie, and everybody else for that matter, you're going to lose him. He won't listen to you, and he's just going to do whatever the hell he's been doing, only he's going to drift further away from you until you can't even find him anymore. No…maybe you should let me talk to him, and see if I can find out what's wrong."

"What makes you think you could do any better?" Duncan asked, taking offense at the idea that he would screw up.

"You've only _seen_ psychiatrists, I've _been_ one in previous times. I know how they think, I know how they access the reactions they get from people when they're upset. You never married, you had no children, I was married 67 times…"

"I know, I know…"

"Most of which who had children during a time when it was normal to see no less than ten kids in one family, and a good number of those kids lived long enough to be Richie's age. I think I have a leg up in this," Methos told him.

Duncan hated to admit defeat, which was why he never did, until now. "Alright," he said, "Go on and see what you can do."

"Your confidence in me is overwhelming, MacLeod," Methos dryly commented.

Methos got into the lift and while he waited to reach the loft, he thought about what he was going to do. What was he going to say to the boy? Where in the hell was he even going to begin?

When he reached the loft, he pushed up the door to the lift and walked into the room. The sun was shining so brightly into the room that any normal person would've been awake already, but Richie remained dead to the world on the couch. Methos walked over to the kid and looked down at him. There were dark rings under his eyes, it had obviously been a few days since he last showered or shaved; his breathing while calm and normal, reeked of tequila and beer. And another thing he noticed, almost immediately though it seemed a bit premature, was that the boy obviously hadn't been eating well recently either, as his clothes which were ordinarily borderline skin tight now starting to hang on his body. Methos sincerely hoped that whatever he did next, he wouldn't screw this up and hurt the kid even more so than he already was.

Oh God, Methos thought, how was he even going to start this? As he looked down at the sleeping Immortal, another memory came to him, another that wasn't his own.

He saw Richie again as a younger kid, looking near death. He was bloody; he'd been beaten up several times and was lying in bed, sleeping, unaware of how bad a condition he was in. And he saw Kronos standing by the bed looking the kid over. There was a nightstand next to the bed and on it laid a sharp kitchen knife. Kronos picked the knife up and held the blade against the fingers on his left hand and he cut two of them open. The blood seeped out but the cut would momentarily heal, before it did however, he smeared his blood across the boy's forehead into a large red cross. Then he picked up Richie's left hand that had blood slowly oozing out of a cut in his palm. He covered the boy's bloody hand with his own and held them together for a minute, letting the two bloods merge as his wounds closed themselves up.

And suddenly, Methos' heart leapt into his throat when he saw two tired eyes looking up at him.

"Hey Methos," Richie said in a low, tired voice, "What's going on?"

"Oh…" he said in his cynical tone, "Not much…and what about you? Here it is 9 in the morning and you already look reincarnated as a rag."

Richie weakly and tired smiled and replied, "So I had a little to drink last night."

"A little?" Methos repeated, "Then the tequila jug must've had a whole pack of worms in it."

Richie laughed and tried to sit up but he wound up falling back against the couch cushions.

"How're you feeling, Richie?" Methos asked.

"Oh," he replied, apparently still half lit, "I'm fiiiiine. What's up?"

"Richie, can you stand up?"

Richie pushed himself to his feet and said, "Now what?"

"Now," the smell of booze on Richie's breath and on his clothes was starting to become nauseating. Methos turned Richie in the direction to the bathroom and said, "Why don't you go get a shower and then we'll talk?"

"Okay," Richie replied.

Richie closed the door behind him and then the loft was quiet. Well, Methos had bought himself a little time, but what was he going to do? He didn't know how he was going to do this. He couldn't figure out how he was going to explain to Richie that Kronos was the man who had saved his life when he was a baby, and who had taken him back in right before he met Duncan. And then, he thought, he owed his brother this much to do this one posthumous favor for him; and also Methos realized he probably owed it to Richie to let him know where he really came from. But how was he ever going to pull it off without sounding like he'd gone crazy?

Twenty minutes later Richie emerged from the bathroom, showered shaved and with Scope on his breath instead of gin and beer.

"So what's going on, old man?" he asked.

"Let's go for a walk, there's something I need to talk to you about and I'd rather not with MacLeod beneath us."

"Okay," Richie replied.

Methos opened the door and they went down the stairs. Methos was dreading coming face to face with MacLeod again so soon, but fate seemed to be working on his side that morning. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, MacLeod was talking to a man who had come in, so Methos and Richie hightailed it out of there before the Scot could take too much notice.

"So where're we going?" Richie asked.

"I think it'd be good if we went back to your apartment," Methos told him, "What I've got to tell you is sort of private."

"Okay."

* * *

Richie opened the door and the two stepped into the darkened room. Methos went over to the windows and pulled open the curtains and let the sun into the room to brighten things up. In doing so, it also shined some light on how big of a mess the apartment was in. It didn't look like a murder had taken place but maybe an attempted murder. The bed was unmade, there were clothes and other things tossed all over the floors and there were empty bottles and beer cans from the bed's headboard to the kitchen sink. Already Methos was starting to get a good idea of what Kronos meant when he said Richie wasn't well.

"I'm guessing it's been a while since you had company," Methos said.

Richie half ignored the comment and cleared the pack of crushed beer cans off the kitchen table. "So I'm a little behind on my housekeeping…you mean to say your place never looks like this?"

"Once in a while," Methos replied, "When a tornado comes whirling by."

"So what was it you wanted to talk about?" Richie asked.

"You better sit down first," he told the boy, "What I've got to say isn't going to sound too believable."

Richie pulled out one of the chairs and sat at the table. Methos sat down next to him. He didn't know what to say, so he decided to show Richie the picture first.

He took the photograph out of his pocket and held it out for Richie to see. "Richie, have you ever seen this man before?"

Richie took the picture and looked at it for a minute.

"I don't know," he said, "He looks kind of familiar…"

"Try and think, it's very important," Methos told him.

Richie stared at the picture for another minute and suddenly it seemed to hit him.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, "I stayed with this guy before I moved in with Mac and Tessa…uh…Graham was his name, Graham…Korda, that was his name."

"That's what I thought. You see, Richie, this man in the picture," Methos said, "Is…was my brother, Kronos."

The expression on Richie's face changed, "What?"

"After he died, I went through everything of his that hadn't been destroyed or lost…and I found out that he took you in…"

"Are you sure?" Richie asked, "There couldn't be some mistake?"

"I know my brother. I also know that MacLeod painted a fine picture for you to have as a first impression of Kronos, a holy terror…and at the end of his life, that's about what he was…but you remember I told you he wasn't always like that. He was never like MacLeod but he wasn't always pure evil either. He…he found you when you were a baby, he took you home with him. Now, he told you about your mother, Emily Ryan, he told you that he knew her briefly and that she lived across from him in an apartment complex, right?"

Richie tried to think. "Yeah…yeah, that's what he said."

"Well, he _did_ know her, she _did_ live across from him…but they were a lot closer than he led you to believe."

Richie's eyes widened when he heard that, "You mean they…"

"Oh no, Emily was a rare woman in every sense, and Kronos, strange as it might sound, had too much respect for her to do something like that. In any case, she was still married at the time and she was a…dignified woman, she wouldn't have had anything to do with that."

"She was _still_ married? To Jack Ryan?" Richie asked.

"Yes, did Kronos ever tell you about him?"

"He said that when he knew Emily, Jack had already left, and he didn't know much about him," Richie answered.

"He knew," Methos replied, "If you can't remember him, then you're better off."

"Oh…" Richie's gaze slowly dropped to the table.

"Emily couldn't have children, and when Jack saw you for the first time, he thought she'd lied about it. _He_ thought that there was something going on between your mother and Kronos. Well…Kronos personally saw to it that Jack Ryan never bothered your mother again."

"So then it's true, he _did_ leave her when I came around. I always wondered how a guy who loved his wife and knew she was having his kid, could leave her…only, I wasn't their kid…it makes more sense all the time."

"Kronos thought he was sparing you the pain of knowing how it really was. He decided if you didn't remember your mother's husband knocking you across the room, and beating the hell out of her, and screaming like a drunken bastard to let the whole damn town know what's going on…that you were better off. And when Kronos left, he made sure that you stayed with Emily because she loved you, and that way she wouldn't have to be left alone after Jack walked out on her. When Kronos got back, he found out that Emily had died, and he tried finding you but it seemed you had disappeared off the face of the earth by that time. When he found you again later on, he didn't know what you did remember, but he knew what you didn't remember and he didn't want you to remember anything that would've caused you anymore pain than you'd already been in your whole life."

Richie closed his eyes for a minute, as though he was trying to block out something that he didn't want to have to face.

"I just don't get it," he said, "Why did he lie? Why didn't he tell me that he was the one who took me in?"

"Because he didn't want you to think he was just another person to walk out of your life and abandon you…it wasn't that at all. He loved you, but he couldn't take you where he was going, and he couldn't leave you with just anybody, so he left you with Emily because he knew that she'd raise you as her own, and he knew you'd be better off with a mother than an absent father. But nobody was counting on her dying the next year."

"That seems pretty damn obvious," Richie replied.

"Richie, I'm sorry, but for as long as you've been trying to find out about your early life and you didn't find anything, I thought it was time you finally knew something concrete."

Richie nodded in agreement as he opened his eyes again. Without a word, he stood up from the table.

"Are you alright?" Methos asked.

He nodded again, but Methos noted he seemed to be breathing harder now.

"Yeah," he answered, "I'm fine…this is just…it's a shock, you know?"

"I know," Methos nodded, "I couldn't believe it myself when I first found out."

"Well I…I appreciate you telling me at least," Richie said, "Now I know."

Before Methos had a chance to say anything else, Richie added quickly, "Hey, listen, I've got a few things I have to take care of, so I guess I'll see you later."

"Richie," Methos got up from the table.

Only he didn't know what to say. What he'd already told Richie was a lot for the kid to have to take in. He wasn't sure he'd said enough but he had an idea Richie wouldn't be up to listening to anymore anytime soon.

"I'll see you around," Methos added.

Richie nodded, "Yeah."

Methos reached the door when Richie asked, "What about the picture?"

"Keep it," Methos said, "I think you'll get more use out of it than I would. I'll be seeing you, Richie. Goodbye."

"Bye."

Methos was out the door and down the stairs and out of the building. What was he going to do now? Clearly he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. So for now he'd go back home and unpack his bags, and wait, and see what happened next.

He wasn't sure it was a good idea to leave as soon as he had, but he also knew that Richie already had a lot to deal with right now. If he had stuck around longer and continued to explain, it might be too much too soon and Richie might've gone into an emotional breakdown. In his life, Richie had made a reputation for himself as capable of taking just about anything anybody could throw at him. But that was for survival, and Methos knew it; Richie hadn't had much exposure to people who didn't string him along and use him for an ulterior gain, so he didn't know too much how to respond to people who genuinely tried to help him.

Another thing Methos knew, the kid was a lot like he was; if things started to look too rocky for him here, he wasn't above packing a bag and getting the hell out of town. So for the time being, Methos would stay close by, and watch, and see what happened next. He wasn't too far off that he couldn't come back and check in on the boy if he needed to. For right now, he'd just step back, give the kid room to breathe, and see what came of it all.

* * *

Richie watched from his window and saw Methos walk up the street until he was out of sight. When he was sure Methos had gone, Richie went back over to the table and looked down at the picture again. He had been wracking his brain trying to clearly remember the man in the picture. He had known the man as Graham Korda. MacLeod had a long time ago known him as Melvin Koren. And to Methos, it was his brother, Kronos. Richie knew that he should remember seeing this guy; in the back of his mind he knew that he had lived in the same house as this man, but it all seemed so vague, almost like a dream.

How he could remember what the man had told him about his parents, and about his relation to them, he didn't know. That part of his life he had tried to hard to block from his memory for so long, but why had he done it? It had been so long, now he wasn't sure if he could remember. He tried to think. Five years ago, right before he moved in with Duncan and Tessa.

"_It looks like you'll survive."_

It hit him, he remembered! He saw himself, younger, thinner, bloodier, and scared to death; he had woken up in an unfamiliar place and there wasn't anybody around. He sat up and found himself covered in his own blood, he screamed, and that man, Kronos, he appeared in the doorway, looking almost exactly like the picture. Richie's mind was filled with all the horror stories Duncan had told him about Melvin Koren, and the Four Horsemen, and what they did to Cassandra, and what Kronos had been working on in the submarine base. And yet it didn't seem to fit the man he remembered.

He remembered being paralyzed with fear when the man came into the room and hovered over the bed.

"_Take it easy,"_ he said, _"I'm not going to hurt you."_

He looked Richie over for about a minute and came to a conclusion.

"_Don't worry, it looks worse than it actually is."_

"_Who…who are you?"_ he remembered asking.

"_My name is Graham Korda."_

"_Nice to meet you…I suppose."_

Suddenly Richie couldn't see and he hit the first thing in front of him. Glass shattered and the noise filled the otherwise quiet apartment. Richie opened his eyes and realized he'd put his fist through the mirror on the wall. His knuckles were bleeding and there was glass in them, but he didn't care. All of a sudden he didn't care about anything. In that instant, nothing seemed to matter anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

Methos didn't go home. Originally that had been the destination he had in mind after finishing with Richie, but after he left the kid's apartment, something told him that he shouldn't go home just yet. He didn't know where to go so he walked around town for a couple of hours, going nowhere in particular, not really looking at anything or making eye contact with anybody. After what had just happened, he was feeling pretty confused himself and wasn't sure what to do next. He could only imagine how hard it was for Richie to comprehend, and Methos hadn't even told him the whole story yet.

After a while, something in his mind changed and he went back to his apartment. At first Methos thought it was so he'd be available if Richie tried to contact him. When he reached the building and got to his floor, he opened the door, stepped in and closed it behind him. He looked around the room and everything seemed to be normal. But when he looked around a second time he realized that there was one difference.

On the bed there rested a small tin box that Methos had never seen before. He had locked the door on his way out so he had a good idea who had been the deliverer for this package. Cautiously he walked over to the bed and picked the box up. It wasn't small enough that it would fit for a deck of playing cards…rather Methos noted, it looked big enough to hold something the size of flashcards instead. He popped open the rough lid and saw that it was filled with old photographs. As he took the pictures out and slowly looked them over, his mind started to race and he was filled with disbelief.

In the pictures he saw his brother, in a different time period, in a strange room, on an ugly couch with a small boy on his lap. The child had red curly hair and blue eyes that lit up, and looked to be about two years old. Methos couldn't believe his eyes. Taking the top photo off the pile, there was another that was similar to the previous one except there were three people on the couch. Beside Kronos and Richie there sat a young woman, she looked to be somewhere in her 20s, she wore a light blue dress and had long reddish brown hair, and a peaceful smile. And Methos knew when he saw the picture that this was the late Emily Ryan, Richie's mother, and suddenly he couldn't breathe.

He looked through the other photographs and the overall picture that they presented was that a long time ago these three people were one happy family. There were several pictures that he guessed Emily must've taken that had Kronos and Richie sprawled out either in bed or on the couch asleep early in the morning, in several of the pictures Richie was curled up and resting in the crook between Kronos' neck and shoulder. There were others of Emily and Richie, and with those two side by side Methos had to admit that they certainly looked related. It was frightening to see how much Richie did look like he could have been Emily's natural son.

And then, Methos stopped and remembered, what Jezebel said to him the day she had met with Richie. He recalled how she had stopped in her tracks and how she looked at the kid in awe.

"_Oh my God."_

"_Is something the matter?"_ Duncan had asked.

"_Methos,"_ she had said to him, _"Have you looked at him?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_If his hair was darker, and his nose was kind of curved down like a vulture's beak, he'd almost look like Kronos."_

He hadn't really thought about it when Jezebel mentioned it at the time, but now that he saw the pictures of the two together, he too could see the resemblance. Oh what cruel tricks fate could play on a person, or several people for that matter. This was getting to be too much for him, he couldn't believe what was going on. He put the pictures back in the box and snapped the lid back on. Suddenly the idea had come to him that he had best get out of his apartment for the time being. And he got the idea that he should return to the dojo and explain the situation to MacLeod. That was about as smart as holding a grenade with the pin missing and Methos knew this, but he also knew that the truth was going to come out eventually, and he'd rather if MacLeod was going to explode as he was wont to do, it be at him instead of the kid.

* * *

MacLeod wasn't on the first floor so Methos got in the lift and headed up to the loft. He found MacLeod appearing to tear apart the entire upstairs, and about to go crazy from it all.

"Let me guess," Methos said innocently as he stepped into the room, "You didn't find it yet."

"No."

"It would seem Amanda's a lot smarter than we give her credit for," Methos said.

"What happened with Richie?" Duncan asked.

"Ohhh," Methos said, deciding not to dive right into it, "We went back to his apartment and discussed some things."

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Duncan asked.

He hoped so. "I'm sure he will be," he said instead, "You know how youth tends to bounce back from everything."

However Methos knew all too well that even the most resilient people could only bounce so much before they burst, and Richie wasn't too far off from that point.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do with him," Duncan said.

"Perhaps there's nothing you're supposed to do," Methos replied, "That's your problem, MacLeod, you're always sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong. Richie is an adult."

The look on MacLeod's face when he heard that was one of disbelief, "According to who?"

"Like it or not, MacLeod, he's not the same kid that you took in whose every movement you dictated. He is a grown man, he will do what he wants and you have no say in the matter," Methos told him, "You were considered grown long before you were his age."

"Things were different back then."

"Well if you want to go by today's standards, MacLeod," Methos said, "You're not going to like what I have to say about your own maturity, or rather lack thereof."

The wide eyed look of shock that formed on MacLeod's face in that instant was nothing short of hilarious.

"It doesn't mean that I have to like what he's doing though."

"Of course not, but keep in mind that there _is_ a difference between not liking what somebody does, and telling them as much," Methos told him, thankful that for the moment there was a distance of about eight feet, and the furniture, between them, "You keep jumping down his throat for everything he does that you don't approve of, you're going to lose him. Though if we're being honest here, maybe that's what you want."

"How can you say that?"

"How can I say that? Why did you kick Richie out after he took his first head? The first time somebody does something right doesn't mean their training is over or that they can handle being by themselves. In all your time you should have figured that out," Methos said, "Of course, the thing I can't figure out is why Richie came back here after you tried to take his head. Personally, that would be the last place in the world I'd go to, even just in passing…no, I'd just keep on going until I was beyond the horizon…but for some reason Richie came back. Well, I guess he does take after you in that he's not too bright."

"Don't you ever say that again!"

"Say what again? That Richie's not too bright for taking after you, or that you yourself aren't bright?"

Duncan lunged at Methos and just missed him and hit the floor. Methos placed his foot on MacLeod's chest and ground it against his heart.

"See? You get yourself so worked up over the littlest things…it's really a wonder you didn't lose your head some 380 years ago. I only hope that Richie _doesn't_ take after you there, you alone are enough trouble for him to try and keep his head."

"That was an accident."

"Was it? I'm not sure I believe that," Methos said as he backed away, "Perhaps you were just thinking about how big of a mistake you made. Taking him in, disrupting your perfect life. How much easier would everything have been if you hadn't decided that he should move in with you? And why would you do that? Because Connor told you to? Well, how long ago did he kick you out? Why should you do something just because somebody a hundred years older than yourself told you to? And how long ago did he stop being your teacher? Right after your first kill? Perhaps that's it, that's what Connor did with you so you decide that's the way it has to be with Richie, never change the cycle, never do anything to live your own life by your own ruling. Always live by some 500 year old tradition that was abolished long before this century. Really, if anybody ever manages to figure you out, I'll be surprised."

Duncan got up and said to Methos, "You know, there are times when I really hate you."

"That's fine with me!" Methos replied, "I'm not the one you drove away!"

"Well you tell me something, Methos," Duncan said as he approached the other Immortal, "If you didn't survive for 5000 years looking after anybody but yourself, why should you care what I do with Richie?"

"You!" Methos lunged at Duncan and wrapped his hands around the Scot's throat, but he didn't choke the younger man, yet. He restrained himself and pulled himself back from the highlander and forced himself to try and calm down. "Incase you haven't noticed, MacLeod, you're not the only person in Richie's life anymore. Now he has more to turn to than just _you_, and thank God for that. He'd be dead by now if he didn't have anybody else to rely on. But then again, maybe that's what you want. You already tried for his head twice before, who's to say there won't be a third time? And maybe this time there won't be any third force running the show, maybe it'll be all your doing."

"Why are you doing this, Methos?" Duncan demanded to know.

"Because right now I don't give a damn about if I hurt your feelings, you're not the one whose survival I'm concerned about, it's Richie's. There's more going on with him right now than you will ever realize."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not so sure that Richie _wants_ to live much longer given the condition his life is in right now, and has been for most of the time he's been alive," Methos told him.

"I don't understand," Duncan said.

"You should have that stitched onto your forehead," Methos replied, "You need a hint the size of a doghouse to fall on you before you realize that something's wrong."

Duncan wasn't in the mood for this. "What is wrong with Richie?"

"Much I'm afraid, and a lot of it is your own doing."

"What?" Duncan demanded to know what he meant by that.

Methos was getting tired of this. He turned away from MacLeod and walked over to the other end of the room. "It's not something I would expect somebody like _you_ to understand, but Richie has a lot of problems that he's going through at this time. Probably a lot more now."

"Now what?" Duncan wanted to know.

"I wasn't sure if I ought to tell you, but I suppose I'd better so you don't go stumbling on this yourself."

Methos took a breath and swallowed a non-existent lump in his throat before he continued. These sorts of confrontations were never easy to get through.

"Richie wasn't living on the streets when you took him in, he was staying with somebody at that time," he started.

"Who?" Duncan asked.

No, he couldn't do it just yet.

"This same person took Richie in before Emily Ryan became his foster mother…in fact, he was the reason Emily became Richie's mother," Methos added.

"Who was it?"

"Somebody we both knew."

"Who?"

Here he went. "Kronos."

Duncan's eyes widened again and he started over towards Methos. "I don't believe that!"

"Neither did I at first, but it's true," Methos said, "Like it or not, it's true, and I can prove it."

"How!?"

"At my apartment, photos, it's all there…everything necessary to prove that Kronos…was Richie's father."

"You really expect me to believe that?" Duncan asked, looking truly and completely sick.

"You don't have to but that doesn't stop it from being true," Methos told him.

"Methos…" Duncan was trying to find the right words to say to explain his reaction.

"I know it's hard to accept, MacLeod, especially considering how you remember Kronos, but you remember I told you that he wasn't always like that."

"Yeah, but that was 4000 years ago," Duncan said.

"Kronos wasn't pure evil for all that time, Duncan, it came and went in him, sometimes in a few years, sometimes decades, sometimes centuries. He found Richie during one of the better periods of his life."

"Does anybody else know about this?" Duncan asked.

"Jezebel does…she figured Richie had a right to know."

"And does he?" Duncan asked, waiting for but not wanting the other shoe to drop.

"He does now," Methos answered, "I had to tell him."

"Why?" Duncan demanded to know, "Why did you have to tell him _that_?"

"Because Kronos loved him, and I can say that with far more certainty than I could ever say about _you_. He didn't demand anything from Richie, didn't expect him to be perfect, or to live according to how he did. Perhaps if Richie had stayed with him, instead of coming to live with you, he would've been better off."

"You can't mean that!"

"Can't I?" Methos replied, "Let me ask you this, MacLeod, _do_ you love Richie?"

"How you can you ask that?"

"Answer the question!"

"Of course I do!"

"Did you ever tell Richie that?"

"I…"

"I thought as much. Now, you took Richie in, gave him a home, gave him a place to sleep, food to eat, but how is that any different from the many foster homes he was bounced around to in his youth? They never wanted him, they put up with him for a certain amount of time and then kicked him out on his own. Not much different than how you handled him, is it?"

Suddenly MacLeod wasn't looking so sure of himself.

"I didn't think so," Methos replied, satisfied in the unanswered response.

"I am not like those people."

"Of course not, _you_ weren't getting anything to keep him with you, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the first time he does what you teach him to do, you abandon him and let him fend for himself. If your cousin could see you now I wonder what he'd say," Methos said, meaning for every word to hit MacLeod like a sharpened icicle.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Nothing, and I don't want you doing anything either. I can't trust you to do anything right where that boy is concerned, I'm going to have to do the damage control myself," Methos said.

Methos headed for the lift and stopped in his tracks when he heard MacLeod call him.

"What?" was all he asked.

"…You said that you found pictures to prove it?"

"That's what I said."

"I…I…could I see them?"

Methos felt his reluctant heart starting to soften and he nodded his head, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

* * *

As Methos unlocked the door to his apartment, he just hoped that Kronos hadn't arranged anymore surprises for today. That was the last thing he needed with MacLeod right behind him, he decided as he swung the door open and they stepped in.

"Where are they?" Duncan asked.

"Over there," Methos pointed to the bed, "In that box."

Duncan went over to the bed, and he saw the box and he stopped. For a minute he didn't say or do anything, then he turned to Methos and asked, "Where did you find this?"

"Oh…I have my ways," Methos answered, "Open it up."

Duncan did, and he took the pictures out and slowly looked through them. Methos watched the expressions on the Scot's face as he saw the undeniable and ugly truth that was before him. Methos saw a variety of looks form on MacLeod's face in just a few seconds, disbelief, shock, anger, awe, surprise, and back to shock, back to anger, they repeated themselves several times before he finished sorting through the photographs.

"There you have it," Methos said, "The ugly truth finally revealed. Yes…" he said as he walked over to MacLeod, "In the beginning, Kronos was Richie's father."

"I still can't believe it," Duncan said.

"I had a hard time believing it as well," Methos replied, "But I had to, because it's true."

"And the woman," Duncan held up the pictures, "That's…"

"Emily Ryan, Richie's mother…Kronos knew her before he found Richie, and when he left, he arranged for her to become Richie's foster mother, that way he knew Richie would be taken care of, and she wouldn't have to be alone since her husband left her."

MacLeod looked at the pictures again, "Richie said that he knew they were still married, but he also knew that Jack was gone."

"More or less at Kronos' insistence," Methos explained, "He was horrible to Emily, and to Richie. Emily couldn't have children, and Jack thought that she just said that to cover up having a child with the neighbor. When Jack saw Richie, he hit him and threw him across the room…a violent cycle that has continued itself countless times in that boy's life apparently."

Methos noticed that MacLeod looked ready to throw up after what he had just found out. But, Methos reminded himself, it was not MacLeod who he was supposed to be sympathetic towards today.

"When Kronos came back, he found out that Emily had died, and he looked for a long time to find Richie, but he never could. Something that he regretted very much for the rest of his life…at least as much of it as existed outside of the dark side of him that took over those last few years. Yes, Kronos loved Richie, very much, even if he had a miserable way of showing it."

"You said that Kronos found him again," Duncan said, "Before he moved in with Tessa and me."

Methos nodded, "He was leaving a bar one night, found Richie in the back of some alley, beaten half to death. First his foster father worked him over, then three muggers in the street, they left him for dead. Kronos took him back home and…he took care of him, he kept Richie with him, until you decided that Richie should move in with you. And…it was the hardest thing Kronos ever did, letting Richie go…you know, MacLeod, you took Kronos' head…but I think that in his death, he decided what parts of his memory went to you…and what parts went to me. I can feel him in me…I remember the days and nights that he watched over Richie, and it's as though _I_ were there instead of Kronos. I feel everything that he did during that time…that's how I know it's true…and that's why I had to tell Richie, because I knew it as well from Kronos' memories than if I'd been there myself."

And now the question that MacLeod had been dreading to ask. "How did Richie take it?"

"He wouldn't let me tell him the whole story…as soon as he found out, he tried to get away from it…I wasn't going to force him to listen to anything he didn't want, so I left. He needs time to take in what I've told him so far before I can tell him anything more…I have a good idea how traumatizing this whole event has been to him so far…no sense in upsetting him anymore than is necessary right now. But you know something, MacLeod?"

Reluctantly, Duncan made eye contact with him, only through one eye though. "What is it?"

"I'm sure that there's another element to this whole experience that's going to be even harder on Richie than just my breaking the news to him."

"What's that?"

"You told him about Kronos, didn't you?" Methos asked, "About how he slaughtered all those people in Texas, how he torched the villages just to watch them burn…how he took anything he wanted and destroyed what he couldn't have…how he worked on that virus to kill everybody, and how he planned to put the Four Horsemen back together and rule the world. You told him all that, didn't you?"

"What if I did?" Duncan asked.

He had. Methos swallowed the first words that threatened to come out of his mouth and only replied, "Whether or not he acts like it, it does matter to Richie what you think of him. And he knows what you think of Kronos, he's heard all the horror stories you've told him about my brother…now he knows that he was found, taken in and partly raised by my brother. And as much as he's had to suffer at your fury before on account of what he's done wrong, or what he didn't do, now he's going to be wondering about what you think of this. He's probably going to be wracking his brain with worry that now with this you'll find a new reason to hate him, to send him away, because if he wasn't living up to your expectations before, I can only imagine how furious he thinks you're going to be with him now, knowing who used to be his father. He may not have been able to help that, but he knows such things are irrelevant to you…you condemn people for things done in their pasts, whether they could have done anything about them or not. It's who you are."

Well that certainly had Duncan feeling like a heel, especially because it was the truth and he knew it.

"Oh my God," he said as he realized what emotional damage had already been done to Richie.

"Now you know why nobody ever wants to tell you anything, because they know you can't handle it. You never could, you still can't, and you probably never will, it's just who you are," Methos said, "This is why people have no problem telling me anything. Because I've lived too long to be judgmental and everybody knows it."

However it didn't seem that Duncan was hearing him. He went over to the phone and dialed a number and waited impatiently for a few seconds before hanging up.

"What is it?" Methos asked.

"Richie's not answering the phone at his apartment, you don't think he went somewhere do you?" Duncan asked.

"He might have," Methos said, "He said that he…"

"Oh my God," Duncan said again as he rushed for the door.

"Now where're you going?" Methos asked.

"To his apartment, if he's gone out, he could be in trouble," Duncan said.

"This from a man who a few months ago didn't care what happened to the kid," Methos grumbled as he slipped on his coat.

"What?" MacLeod asked.

"Nothing," Methos replied, "Lead the way."

* * *

They returned to the apartment and they knew from the low quickening nearby that Richie was still in there. Duncan beat on the door a few times and called for him but there was no response.

"I'm worried," he told Methos.

"Ooh, there's a shocker," Methos replied as he jiggled the knob and got the bolt to slide, "Walk this way."

He opened the door slowly and stuck his head in, "Hey Richie, you decent?"

There was no response. Methos threw the door open and the two stepped in. The shades were pulled back down and the room was dark…and quiet the two Immortals noted. Too quiet in fact, there wasn't a sound to be head in the whole apartment. Methos went over to the windows to pull open the shades the let the light in so they could see what was going on. The sunlight poured in and they saw that walls had plaster knocked out of them in holes. Holes that both Immortals noted were roughly the size of adult fists. Their attention was drawn from that to the new collection of bottles and cans on the floor, and from there to the sight of Richie sprawled out on the bed, he wasn't moving.

They went over to the bed and found Richie had his face buried in the pillows, Methos turned the boy over onto his side and they saw he was passed out drunk. Half dry streaks of tears ran down his face and this was not too different from the reaction Methos had anticipated the boy would have.

"Richie," he said, "Can you hear me?"

The boy made no acknowledgement of either Immortal's presence at that time. Methos lightly tapped Richie's face to see if that would get any reaction out of him, nothing. He smacked the boy across one cheek, harder than he probably should've but it still got no response from the dead drunk.

"I don't know what he had to drink before we got here, but I think they outlawed it during the war," Methos said.

"What are we going to do?" Duncan asked, "We can't leave him here like this."

"You're right, we can't," Methos said, "Help me get him up, we'll take him over to your place."

"My place?"

"What's the matter? He's not good enough to come out of this in your own bed?" Methos asked, "You said it yourself, we can't leave him here alone and I don't think you're in much of a mood to go slumming for the night."

Duncan wasn't in any mood to argue, so he helped Methos get Richie off of the bed and onto his feet, naturally with both of them supporting him so he wouldn't fall.

"Now what do we do?"

"Now," Methos answered, "We'll take him down to the car, slip him in the back and take him back to your place, where he can sleep off the rest of whatever he's going through currently."

"You don't sound too surprised by any of this," Duncan noted.

"I knew that it would be hard for Richie to take in once I told him," Methos said, "That's why I had him come back here in the first place. There's little worse than being uncomfortable in a weird place…your loft isn't too comfortable but at least he's familiar with it."

* * *

They got back to the dojo and got up to the loft where Methos settled Richie down in Duncan's bed and stayed at his side as they waited for him to wake up.

"What exactly did you tell him?" Duncan asked.

"Very basic stuff," Methos answered, "Which isn't easy considering there's nothing basic about what happened with he and Kronos."

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Duncan asked.

"Probably," Methos said, "This probably won't be the worst thing to happen in his life, it's just the hardest thing he's had to go through so far. Though perhaps it would be easier on the boy if when he woke up, yours was not one of the first faces he saw."

Duncan didn't want to agree but he found it hard to argue. He kept thinking about what Methos had said earlier, about how worried Richie probably got when he realized what Duncan's reaction would be when he found out about Kronos coming into the picture. So he headed for the door and decided to disappear for the time being, but before he could leave the room, they heard Richie moaning as he started to come around.

Methos sat at the foot of the bed, leaning in to stroke the crown of Richie's head as he slowly awoke.

"Hello, Richie," he said calmly, not wanting to traumatize the poor kid anymore than had to be done, "How are you feeling?"

Richie groaned for a few minutes as he tried to answer, which only told Methos how much he'd had to drink once he was alone in his apartment.

"Methos, it's true, isn't it?" Richie asked in a quiet, tired, worried voice, "What you said about Kronos, it's true, isn't it?"

Methos nodded as he continued to stroke the boy's head and tried to calm him down, "Yes, Richie, it is…I know how hard it was to take, my springing it on you…but I decided you had a right to know. You've tried so long to find any answers possible about your past, and you always came up empty handed…at least now there was something to your past that I could tell you about, so you wouldn't have to spend the rest of your life always guessing."

Richie clearly hadn't completely come out of the shock and exhaustion of finding out the truth, he still looked only half alive and couldn't force his eyes open any wider than half way. Methos was certain that Richie couldn't see MacLeod and he wasn't even sure if the boy could feel the other's quickening.

"I still can't believe it," Richie said, "But it has to be true. It just has to be…"

"It'll take some time for the shock to wear off," Methos told him, "But I think in a couple of days you'll find it easier to take in."

Richie tried to laugh but instead he started crying, and that was the most painful thing where Duncan was concerned, that he'd ever had to watch.

"What's wrong, Richie?" Methos asked, remaining ever so calm with the boy.

Despite his attempts to explain, Richie couldn't get a single coherent word out. Methos slipped one arm behind the boy's back and held him close for a minute.

"I know, it's a hard fact to accept, it's going to be overwhelming for a while…but that will wear off in time, and it won't be so bad, you'll see," Methos told him.

Richie held onto Methos for a few minutes as the turmoil of emotions started to leave his system. Finally Methos laid Richie back down against the pillows and said to him, "It's alright, Richie, it's alright, there's nobody here but us…why don't you try to relax and we'll go out for a while and give you some privacy?"

Richie tiredly nodded as he vainly tried to quiet himself. Methos got up from the bed and motioned for MacLeod to follow him out of the room. Reluctantly, MacLeod followed and they went down to the first floor and went out the door and were half a block away when Duncan finally asked, "Are you sure that was a good idea?"

"What?" Methos asked.

"Leaving him alone like that," Duncan answered, "If he tries to go anywhere…"

Methos reached into his pocket and pulled out two sets of keys, one to the doors of the dojo, and the others MacLeod briefly recognized as the keys to Richie's motorcycle.

"If he tries that, he won't have far to go," Methos replied, "Besides, we're not going to be gone for too long…just enough that he'll know he's alone and he won't have to be further embarrassed by our presence."

"In the meantime what do we do?" Duncan asked.

"In the meantime," Methos repeated, "This is all turning into a fine mess, and I think Joe's entitled to find out what's going on…it's all bound to come out sometime, and as much stuff as Richie's able to talk to Joe about, I don't see why this shouldn't be part of it. Once he calms down, he's going to need somebody to talk to and that's not necessarily always going to be us, you know."

"And you really think telling Joe is such a good idea?" Duncan asked.

"Why not? Joe knows about Kronos, he knows about Richie, he'll keep any secret that Richie confides in him, he's certainly not going to judge the poor kid about any of it…besides that, there's already damn few people Richie can tell this to and I really don't know how comfortable he's going to be discussing it with Jezebel, a 4000 year old woman who used to be married to his father. Someday perhaps, but right now it's just us and Joe that Richie knows he can trust, and after today I don't know how well we're still going to fit into that category."


	3. Chapter 3

"I don't like this, Methos," Duncan said as they headed to the bar.

"Nobody said you had to like it," Methos replied, "If it'll make you feel any better, I'll do all the talking so you don't have to do anything."

Methos opened the door and they walked in and they saw Joe getting everything set up for when he opened the place for business that day.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Joe asked, "Who died?"

"Nobody yet," Methos replied, "But speaking of which, there's something we need to talk to you about."

"Is something wrong?" Joe asked.

"Well, that's really a matter of opinion," Methos answered as they walked over to him, "You see…after Kronos died…I was sorting through his things and I…came upon a few things that were…quite unnerving to say the least."

"What is it?" Joe asked.

"Uh…well…I found out that back in 1976, Kronos…he…" Methos knew there was no easy way to get through this so he just bit the bullet and said it, "He was Richie's father."

The look on Joe's face changed, slightly, he had heard what Methos said but it wasn't clear if he'd understood it just yet.

"Are you serious?" Joe asked.

Methos nodded, "Dead serious."

"Okay," Joe said, "I think I better sit down."

"That's probably a good idea," Methos replied.

All three men slowly sat down and then Joe said, "Okay, now explain it to me again. What do you mean Kronos was Richie's father?"

"I mean simply that…Kronos found Richie as a baby…somebody threw him away in a garbage can."

Methos alternated between looking at Joe and MacLeod as he explained, and he couldn't help but notice the unmistakable look of disgust on MacLeod's face when he heard that.

"Kronos took Riche home with him, cleaned him up and kept him…Richie was about a year and a half old at the time, and he was very small for his age, and he couldn't speak a word. Kronos knew that if he hadn't taken Richie with him, he most likely would have died, and I don't think any of us is ready to even entertain the idea of what would happen if somebody became Immortal when they were a baby. That's something that even Kronos, as horrible a person as he could be, would never do to someone. Now…it was at this time that Emily Ryan, who would later become Richie's foster mother, first met with the boy. Emily was Kronos' neighbor in an apartment building he was living in at the time. She knew Kronos as Angelo Zamora and often went to him for company when her husband, Jack Ryan, one of the most miserable excuses of a human being, left her, which he did a lot."

"You really mean to tell me that it's because of Kronos that Emily ever took Richie in?" Joe asked.

"Yes…Emily saw the baby and fell in love with him immediately, but she was as good as a single woman living on a low income and she couldn't possibly afford to raise a child by herself. For the next year and a half she and Kronos each had a hand in raising him. A few days after Kronos found Richie, Jack Ryan came back and he accused Emily of having an affair with Kronos, and he considered Richie to be the evidence of it. Emily was infertile and couldn't have children, and Jack was convinced that she was lying about that to cover up having an illegitimate child. Well, that was one of the darkest days that building ever saw, Jack beat Emily and knocked Richie across the room."

"Did Kronos kill him?" Joe asked.

"He tried…he figured he could do away with Jack, and then Emily would collect on the insurance and bury him happily and wealthily…unfortunately, Jack survived…but he never came back after that."

"So what happened?"

"Well, Emily stayed in her apartment and she came over just about every day to help Kronos with Richie…then when Richie was three, Kronos left him in Emily's care."

"Why?"

"Because Kronos could never stay in one place for too long, especially without causing trouble; he always had two identities living at the same time in different parts of the world, one he would use when laying low, and the other he would use when he raised hell. Looking back now, Kronos was sort of a…split personality, there were two sides to him that I'm sure about…the one that you know about, and the one that I used to live with. He was dangerous, yes, he was psychotic, I won't argue that, but he wasn't insane…he had enough sense to leave Richie with someone he'd be safe with while he went over to the other side of the world to continue his reign of terror. He wouldn't risk Richie's life by taking the boy with him."

"So Emily became Richie's foster mother and what happened?"

"Well she never heard from Kronos again, and she died a year later, and Richie was lost in the foster care system, and when Kronos came back and found out what had happened, he couldn't find any trace of Richie."

"Somehow I don't get the feeling that that's the end of it," Joe said.

Methos turned to MacLeod for a second and said, "Give that man a cigar."

"So what am I missing?" Joe asked.

"Kronos came back again, and he found Richie several years later…in fact it wasn't too long ago that it happened…he found Richie a few months before the kid broke into MacLeod's antique store."

Joe's eyes widened when he heard that, "Are you serious?"

Methos nodded, "Richie's current foster parent had beaten the hell out of him, he ran away and got jumped by three men in an alley. Kronos felt his low quickening and found him…when Richie came to, he didn't remember anything about seeing this man before…so Kronos changed a lot of the details to the story when he explained how he knew Richie. He made it out as though he had just been a brief acquaintance with Emily and that she was the one raising him all those years."

"Why would he do that?" Joe asked.

"Because he knew if he told Richie the truth, Richie would want to know why he left in the first place, and if he tried to explain it in a way that would spare the boy the details about Immortals, it would sound like he was just somebody else Richie had in his life who walked out on him...and if Kronos tried to be honest about it, since Richie had no knowledge about Immortals at the time, that was something that Kronos couldn't answer without scarring him even more so. I guess at that time, Kronos didn't believe in explaining Immortality to anybody who wasn't one yet. So, Richie stays with him a few months, coming and going in the nights as he pleases, and one night he breaks into a certain store and gets caught by three Immortals ready to duke it out."

"Why…" both Methos and Joe about jumped out of their chairs when they heard the first word Duncan had said since they came to the bar, "Why was Richie still at the police station the next day then? Why didn't Kronos get him out of jail?"

"Because he didn't know. Richie didn't bother to tell Kronos about his trouble with the police, in fact it wasn't until a few days later that he found out from a neighbor that the boy had been picked up. Richie didn't see any point in giving any trouble to a man who wasn't his family, someone of whom he wasn't a responsibility or obligation to. If only he'd known…"

"But how did Richie wind up with Mac?" Joe asked.

"Well…" Methos turned to MacLeod, "After your little scuffle with Slan Quince, I don't know the exact details but I'm figuring either you or your cousin convinced Richie it would be in his best interest," Methos said it as though they were conducting a business deal with the Godfather, "If he moved in with you. So, Richie went home, told Kronos that he was moving in with some friends, packed his bags and left, and neither saw the other again from there on out."

"And he just let Richie go like that?" Duncan asked.

"Nothing my brother did in his life seems to please you, MacLeod, I should think you'd be more upset if Kronos _hadn't_ let Richie go," Methos said, "He knew that Richie wasn't a child, he was almost 18, almost a man, he knew that Richie had a mind of his own and had a tendency to use it too. He couldn't force Richie to stay and he knew if he tried, Richie would resent him for it…it wasn't easy for him to let Richie walk away but he did it because he thought it was in the best interest for the kid. If he had known _who_ he was handing his son over too…" he let out a sinister haw, "Well then things would probably have been far different for everybody."

"And…" Joe said, "Does Richie know about all this?"

"Part of it," Methos replied, "I told him this morning…I didn't see any point in keeping him in the dark about his own past anymore. Everybody's already done that to him his whole life, so that he finally had to face it with a mentality that it didn't matter…well it did…and I told him and," he turned to MacLeod again, "I'm not sorry I did!"

"How's he taking it?" Joe asked.

"Oh…I don't know how you or MacLeod would see fitting for it, but he's handling it about as well as I thought he would…better in fact."

"Better?" Duncan asked disbelievingly, "We went over there, he'd punched holes in the wall, smashed up the furniture, there were empty beer bottles all over the floor, and he was passed out drunk in the bed."

"Which," Methos replied, "Is a large improvement over how I thought he would react to the news."

"And so I understand this," Joe said as he got up, "You two left him alone?"

"He's not going to have too far to get to," Methos replied as he too stood up, "I took all the keys before we left…besides, I figured being alone for a while would be of some relief to him."

"Now the next question," Joe added, "Is he going to be alright?"

"That's what I want to know," Duncan said.

"Naturally at this point nothing can be said for certain," Methos told them, "But I do believe he'll recover from the shock of it all. I shouldn't think this news flash would be as traumatizing as having his teacher come for his head and nearly take it."

Methos couldn't help but notice the look on MacLeod's face as he struggled not to say anything in response to that.

"In the meantime, is there anything you need me to do?" Joe asked.

"I appreciate it, Joe, but no, I don't think so, I think this is something I need to handle by myself."

"And what am I supposed to do?" Duncan asked.

"You?" Methos turned to him, "You stay out of the way and keep your fat mouth shut. You've caused enough trouble already for the poor kid."

Joe started to laugh and said, "I'm probably going to hell for this but I actually find this whole thing kind of entertaining. Are you sure there's nothing I can help with?"

Methos shook his head, "I think I've got a bit more of a leg up in this than the two of you. For one thing, I knew Kronos for over 2000 years, I can understand more what Richie's going through, for another thing I studied psychiatry for about 200 years, so if anywhere in Richie's actions over the next few days they can be tied in with that subconscious psycho-babble, then there's that too…and I can also understand Richie's position in this as what at face value appears to be the discarded child. It's going to be rough for him to take it all in but I don't see any reason why he shouldn't come out of it alright in the end."

"Well for both your sakes I hope you're right," Joe said.

Methos turned back to Duncan and said, "We should probably get back and see how he's doing. I have a good idea that I haven't even hit the tip of this particular iceberg."

"Good luck," Joe said, "I have an idea you're going to need it."

Duncan stood up from his chair and felt somebody kick him. He turned to Methos and demanded to know, "Did you kick me?"

"Certainly not," Methos replied, "Believe me, if I kicked you, you wouldn't have to ask, you'd know."

* * *

"I hope Richie's alright," Duncan said as they returned to the dojo.

"Well, on the way back I didn't see any windows broken so we're probably good so far," Methos replied, "However, I think it would probably be best if you stayed down here while I go up and talk with the boy and see how he's doing. He's going to have enough trouble talking to me about what's going on, if he sees you in the room he'll probably clam up for fear of saying something you don't want to know about."

Duncan seemed to admit defeat, though of course he wouldn't say it, and sat down at his desk and looked up at the ceiling. Methos took the stairs up to the loft and when he reached the door, he put his ear against it as he put the key in and undid the lock and listened. It was quiet for the moment…but not like when they went to his apartment. That was a deathly silence…this was a telltale silence that told of how much the boy had exhausted himself since the two had left him alone.

He opened the door and stepped in, and he saw that Richie was still in bed and he seemed to be asleep. Of course the boy had to feel his quickening but there was nothing to indicate that he was waking up from it anytime soon. Methos quietly slipped over to the bed and observed the tired, younger Immortal, sleeping like an angel, he had to laugh at that idea. He sat down at the foot of the bed and watched Richie while he slept, and then suddenly he saw that the kid had woken up and was looking at him.

"Adam?" he asked in a quiet, tired voice.

"It's me, kid, how are you feeling?"

"Weird," Richie replied. He sat up and it was then that Methos could see how pink his eyes were from crying, and there didn't appear to be any immediate end to that as the tears started to build up again.

Richie looked down, not wanting anybody to see him as he was.

"This is so stupid," he said, "I don't know why I'm…I…"

"It's not so hard to figure out," Methos told him, "Your whole life you've had few very natural reactions to anything…you were always trying to cover what was really going through your mind, that's something that somebody instilled in you a long time ago and it just stuck that way. Now you don't have anybody to put on a show for and try to act like nothing bothers you…Richie, you may be an unusual person but you're still human, Immortal or not, it's not healthy for anybody to never have a reaction like what you're going through right now."

"But why now?" Richie asked.

"Richie, I know that through your life, plenty of people gave you the impression that it's only appropriate to cry when somebody dies, but you know that's not true. Do you know how many damn people cry at weddings because they're so happy? I've been to enough weddings that I should've worn a lifejacket instead of a tuxedo. Now you're reacting this way because you're upset, upset, and overwhelmed by being hit with this news out of nowhere…it's a lot for somebody to have to take in, and the fact that we've gotten this far without anybody dying tells me that you're handling it very well," Methos told him.

Richie swallowed and took a few breaths before he tried talking again. "Methos."

"What?"

"After you left, I got to thinking…I tried thinking about before I moved in with Mac and Tess…and, and I remembered."

Aha, a breakthrough. "What did you remember?"

"I remembered Graham…I mean Kronos…I remembered him…I remember…this one night, this big storm came up, and I couldn't sleep because of the noise, and I got out of bed, and…a big tree branch crashed through the window and nailed the mattress down, and I fell on the floor from the shock of it all. And the door opened and the light came on, and Kronos…he…he pulled me up and asked me if I was hurt. I said no, and he said something like 'thank God', and he put his arms around me and kissed me. I guess he must've been pretty freaked out."

"He was worried about you, he was always worried about you, because he didn't want anything happening to you," Methos explained.

That seemed to genuinely surprise Richie, and Methos knew it was because seldom in the boy's life had anybody been concerned with his wellbeing.

"I guess he must've really cared about me, huh?" Richie asked.

"He loved you, Richie, where he was concerned, you were his son."

A sheepish smile formed on Richie's face as he tried to think of what to say in response to that.

"I don't think anybody ever said that about me in my whole life, except for Emily," he told Methos.

A minute passed before something else came to Richie's mind, "And then I started thinking…he was the only person who ever wanted me around, you know? Everybody else who took me in, they got paid for it, and they always threw me out before too long for some reason or other…and I remember with…with Kronos, he didn't have any reason to take me in, and he kept me…and he told me that I could stay with him…for…for as long as I liked…and," his eyes squeezed shut for a minute as though he'd been hit with a migraine, "And now I'm thinking, how different would my life be if I had just stayed with him? If I hadn't moved in with Mac and Tessa, what would be different?"

"Well, you might not become Immortal until you were older," Methos said, "But on another hand, something else might've happened and you could have become Immortal when you were 17…nobody can ever say for certain how different things would be if we did anything different when we had the chance."

"And you know, Methos, it sounds bad, I know it does but…" Richie looked up at him with wide eyes full of fear and shame and hurt, "I wish I had stayed with him…I wish I'd never lived with Mac."

"I can understand that," Methos said, "You know how little I have to interact with him and I'm sick of him myself."

Richie started crying again and he struggled to talk, "Why did I leave him? Why? I…" he shook his head, "I should never have left him."

Methos grabbed Richie's arm and pulled the boy over to him and wrapped his arms tightly around his back, "It's alright, Richie, it's alright."

"Oh God," Richie moaned as he tried to pull away, "How stupid could I have been? Why did I leave? He wanted me, the only person who ever wanted me, I leave him, and now he's dead…maybe if I'd stayed with him…"

"Richie, he let you go…he could have forced you to stay with him, but he didn't…because he knew that being around him for a long period of time wasn't safe for anybody," Methos told him, "You couldn't have changed that."

"But you don't know that! Maybe if I hadn't left him…" Richie lost the fight in him and collapsed in Methos' arms, "Things would be different."

"They would have been, but you can't be sure they would have been for the better," Methos said, "Kronos did what he thought was best and let you go when you decided the time was right."

"How…how much worse could things possibly have been?" Richie asked, "At least I would've been with someone who actually wanted me. The _only_ person who ever wanted me, and I left…"

Methos rocked back and forth slightly and rubbed Richie's back as he tried to calm the kid down. He didn't know exactly how Kronos intended to straighten this mess out but he hoped his brother knew what he was doing. Richie spent the next fifteen minutes carrying on about how stupid he had been at the time.

"I feel terrible," he finally said.

"I know," Methos told him, "That'll last for a while, and then you'll go into a bout of being upset, and you'll go from that to hating Kronos. Hating him for leaving you, and then for letting you go, and then you'll hate yourself for leaving, and then you'll hate everything and everybody, and after a while the feeling will pass and you'll start to heal. Believe me, I'm speaking from experience."

For some reason that seemed to make Richie cry even harder, and Methos had to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah," he said as he kept a tight hold on the boy, "Cry all you want, scream your head off, you've got every right to, and you'll feel better afterwards."

And in that moment he had another flashback that wasn't his own. He could remember his brother saying close to if not the same thing when he first took Richie home and cleaned him up…and without having been there, Methos could remember how long and how loudly the child had cried before finally quieting down and going to sleep.

"Some things never change," he said to himself as he tried to calm Richie down.

After a while, Richie seemed to wear himself out and Methos laid him back against the pillows and drew the sheets up over him, and got up.

"Methos?"

What timing the kid had, Methos thought, the second he puts one foot away from the bed and the boy had some sort of bat radar going off.

"Yes, Richie?"

"I…I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Well," Richie replied, "I know I've been a lot of trouble today…"

"Not trouble," Methos told him as he headed over to the kitchen, "You're reacting quite normally given the situation at hand. You're upset, you're mad about what might have been but isn't, you're mad at Kronos, I'm mad at him too, I'm mad that he didn't bother telling you any of this when he had the chance."

"But still," Richie said, "I shouldn't have carried on like this."

"According to who?" Methos asked, "The same people who would be telling you to calm down most likely. I hate people like that, when I'm upset I don't want to calm down, if I want to be in a rotten mood and carry on, that's my right, yours too. Especially given everything you've already been put through. One thing I never could stand, that was people who didn't know when to mind their own damn business, telling people not to be so upset…why not? Nobody knows what they're going through except them. Besides, God gave mankind that particular ability for a reason, why shouldn't people be entitled to use it?"

He filled a glass with water and took it back over to the bed and gave it to Richie.

"Take a drink of this, it'll help soothe your throat."

Richie drank the water slowly and handed Methos back an empty glass.

"Something else I was thinking about earlier," Richie said.

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering…I know that I always screwed everything up…but I could never figure out what was wrong with me that nobody wanted me."

"But it's not true nobody wanted you," Methos said.

"Still…there had to have been something wrong with me that only one person who ever knew me wanted to take me in," Richie said, "What was wrong with me that nobody else ever wanted me?"

Methos put the glass on the nightstand and sat down at the foot of the bed again, "I hate to break it to you, Richie, but that's a question as old as time. I've often asked the same thing…now you remember when I told you that until Kronos found me, I had been a slave all my life?"

Richie nodded.

"I have no recollection of how I started out…I don't know if I was born into that life or if I just happened into it through sheer bad luck…I was never a king, never a ruler, but I still had more to offer than most people I knew, so I often asked why was I always stuck as a slave? Oh of course, it wasn't always bad living like that, a lot of people did at the time and few thought anything of it…it was just how things were…but even that far back I knew that we were the only kind of people who were treated as badly as we were. People who weren't owned never got tortured like we did, not even in battle…and it wasn't until Kronos came along that I actually accounted for anything as a person and not just as some Pharaoh's property. And you want to know something else?"

"What?" Richie asked.

"After I left Kronos, things didn't get much better…it took me a long time to go from either being a slave or a Horseman until I was finally somebody who people saw and respected, and not just treated as if I were one of the animals. In all my time if there's one thing I've learned from it all, it's that it's not always you, sometimes it's just what's wrong with everybody else," Methos explained, "Does that make any sense?"

"I suppose so," Richie answered.

"Are you feeling better at all now?"

"A little."

"Good…I would suggest you rest now because there's going to be a lot more about this whole mess to explain later," Methos told him.

Richie nodded and laid back down. Methos knew before he even moved that as soon as he got up, Richie would sit back up and say something else, but still he stood up and started over to the kitchen again.

"Methos?"

"Yes?"

"…Thanks."

"For what?"

"For telling me," Richie said, "And…for putting up with me."

"Believe me, you're some of the more pleasant company I've had in the last few centuries," Methos responded, "Now go on to sleep."

He turned back around and started for the kitchen again.

"Methos."

"Now what?"

"Does anybody else know?"

"Jezebel does."

"Oh…what'd she say about it?"

"She said," Methos turned around to face Richie, "That it made sense. I guess she knew before the rest of us did."

"I remember," Richie said, "That day when she was here and she said that I…I kind of looked like him…is that true?"

"Well…" Methos tried to think how to answer that…carefully, he knew that much, "Maybe a little around the eyes."

"Methos…"

"Well I can't say for certain because I didn't know Kronos when he was your age, but…yeah, I think I can see a little resemblance between the two of you."

Richie was quiet after that, and Methos thought he'd finally be able to move without hearing his name being called again, but he was wrong, again.

"Methos?"

It was with great restraint that Methos maintained a straight face as he turned back around, "Yes?"

"Did you know my mother too?"

"No…no, but I did find some pictures of her."

"Do I look like her?" Richie asked.

"Yes."

"A lot?"

"Well…" Methos ran his hand through Richie's short hair, "A bit more now than you used to…but yes, I would say you do."

"I wonder…if she had lived…do you think she would've kept me?" Richie asked.

"I can't see why she wouldn't, you were the best thing she had in her life," Methos told him.

"I was the _only_ good thing she had in her life," Richie remarked.

"And nobody gives up a good thing, not willingly anyway," Methos said as he sat down on the bed again.

"I don't know," Richie said, "She may have wanted me around when I was little and I was still cute…but I don't know how fond she would've been of having me around when I got older."

"Oh of course she would've," Methos told him.

"I'm not so sure about that," Richie replied, "I made a lot of trouble for people the older I got."

"Based on how your life went going from one home to another to another…there's no guarantee if you stayed with Emily you would've turned out the same way," Methos said.

Richie laughed bitterly and said, "The old nature/nurture debate, eh? Well I don't know about that, I think people are going to turn out one way regardless of what they go through."

"It certainly is a possibility," Methos commented, "But there's something else to consider."

"And what's that?" Richie asked.

"Anybody can claim to be a good parent when their kid is behaving, it's when the kids start testing them that the truth of the matter comes out…and I think Emily would've loved you the same no matter how you turned out had you been able to stay with her."

Richie's gaze dropped downward when Methos said that.

"What's wrong?" Methos asked.

"I was just thinking…what does it say when the only people who ever cared about you are dead?"

"It says the basics of our lives are not so different from one another," Methos told him.

"I don't know, I was just thinking…everybody who ever…they're all dead, Emily's dead, Tessa's dead, Gary's dead, and Kronos is dead…who's left?"

The fact that Richie couldn't figure that out told Methos plenty of what role of importance he played where his friends were concerned. But he also knew that the kid was exhausted and had already had to go through a lot; he wasn't sure Richie needed to be put through much more right away.

"It's been a long day, you better lie down and try to rest," Methos suggested.

Richie nodded and laid his head back against the pillows. Methos stood up again and started over to the other side of the loft.

"Methos…"

Ooh this was getting annoying, Methos thought. "Yes?"

"Are you leaving?"

"I'm……no, I'm not leaving…I'm just going to go downstairs for a while and make it easier for you to relax."

"Okay," Richie tiredly replied, "Thanks."

"You're welcome, now go to sleep."

Methos went out the door and down the stairs. Now he had to explain to MacLeod how the boy was doing, as if he didn't have a complicated job to do already. He reached the bottom of the stairs and returned to the office where he found MacLeod still seated.

"Well MacLeod, I…"

And then Methos realized that he didn't have to explain anything. There was a shocked look in MacLeod's eyes, and Methos realized what had happened. He had found the intercom that Amanda had hid, and he'd heard the entire conversation upstairs.


	4. Chapter 4

MacLeod hadn't said anything when Methos came into the room, and for having heard everything the two Immortals had discussed upstairs, Methos knew it wasn't good. As he approached MacLeod he noted that the younger man appeared to be in shock.

"Mac, are you alright?" he asked as he cautiously reached out and poked the Scot's shoulder.

"He said…" Duncan said as his eyes rolled in his head as though he'd just come back to life, and perhaps he had, "He never should have left Kronos."

Here we went, Methos thought. That was one part he had planned to spare MacLeod from knowing.

"He's upset, MacLeod," Methos told him, "He's bound to say a lot of things. Besides, try putting yourself in his shoes. The life he knew with Kronos was far more stable than it ever was living with you."

"Was it really that horrible living with me that he'd rather stay with that _thing_?"

Methos was sure there was a perfectly good reason why MacLeod was doing a good impression of a jackass at that time, but he didn't want to hear it. He also didn't want to get into it again with the highlander if it could be helped, so he put aside what he was thinking and said, "It wasn't just _you_, MacLeod, it was everything. But you have to remember, MacLeod, when Richie lived with Kronos there was one thing in particular that makes for a large amount of the difference."

"What's that?"

"Kronos never tried to take Richie's head," Methos told him, "Richie never knew he was Immortal, he didn't know Kronos was Immortal, he didn't know what they were, he never knew they existed, and when he lived with Kronos, he never saw any of them fight to the death."

"Kronos found a way to stay out of the Game?"

"He never bothered with it, he didn't believe in the Game. He believed in taking heads, yes, but never to be the last one standing."

"Neither do I," Duncan replied.

"But it's why you do it. When asked why you do it, what do you tell people? 'Because that's how it is, there can be only one, _we_ don't get to live happily ever after'. Does any of that ring a bell for you?"

"What was I supposed to do? Let Richie be an easy target for any Immortal who crossed paths with him?"

"MacLeod, there is a difference in taking part in the Game, and defending yourself against those Immortals that do."

"We're all part of it."

"Doesn't mean we have to _take_ part in it," Methos replied, "Kronos knew how to avoid that with little trouble."

"I'm not your brother."

"Well _thank God_ for that!" Methos said cynically, "I'd sooner lie down on the railroad tracks than have you as one anyway."

Okay, he didn't mean that but MacLeod didn't need to know it, not now anyway. Common sense never did seem to have a place when they had these sorts of arguments.

"MacLeod," Methos said, trying to recollect his composure, "What's done is done, why do you let it bother you so much?"

"I don't know."

A thought came to Methos' mind and he knew he shouldn't ask it, but with the way everything was already going, what did he have to lose?

"MacLeod, I just have one question…you don't _really_ think you were that great to put up with, do you?"

Duncan looked at him through one slanted eye that told Methos he was definitely not pleased with that response.

"You've spent your whole life judging people, measuring them up to your own standards to decide if they're worthy or not. Richie never had to put up with that with Kronos. He didn't have to do anything, he couldn't say anything wrong to Kronos…Kronos kept Richie with him regardless of everything that Richie did, regardless of the fact that he was imperfect, that he was flawed, that he made mistakes, that he wasn't part of some honorable family like yours. Kronos didn't look at a person and condemn them for living a life that he didn't approve of…of course for most of his life he was a man with no morals, no conscience…maybe that's why it was so easy for him to take Richie in, maybe that's why it was easy for Kronos to love Richie without demanding anything in return, blind obedience, unquestioning silence…all the things you've thrown at Richie from day one in exchange for your putting up with him."

However Duncan didn't appear to be paying any attention to what Methos said. That, Methos considered to be nothing new; half the time he suspected that MacLeod only heard what he wanted to hear, as many self righteous people were wont to do. But it seemed that that wasn't the case when MacLeod came out of his own thoughts and spoke.

"If you had been the one to find Richie…what would you have done?" Duncan asked.

"What, when he was 17?" Methos asked as he sat down across from the other Immortal. Duncan nodded. "I'm a survivor, MacLeod, you know that…but that's not all that I am. I may not have felt guilt since the 11th century…but that's because I've learned in my time how to be careful not to build up many more regrets than is necessary. Would I have taken Richie in? Yes, would I have kept him with me? I don't know…for a while, sure, until I was certain that he'd be alright…but afterwards…I can't answer. That's one regard in which I envy my brother…for a long time, all that he thought of was how we were to obtain what we wanted…but you know, he could also be a very patient, selfless person. This I found out when he took me in…and evidently that wasn't a trait that he got rid of for very long…it probably didn't start with me, but it definitely ended with Richie. My brother was a very complex person…even now I'm never sure if even Kronos himself was aware of what was happening with him."

"What do you mean he wasn't aware of it?"

"You remember I said he was a split personality, at least two sides, two that I knew of for certain. His moods came and went…one day he'd be fine, the next he'd be knocking me to the ground over anything…and an hour later he'd be apologizing, sometimes of his own will, sometimes because Caspian forced him to. I could never figure it out, I just watched my own steps to try not to upset him…he was sick…of course he'd have to be to do the things he did…but I guess it wasn't his fault."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…I remember asking Kronos why he thought Caspian was the way he was…he didn't know, could only guess…and he assumed that when Caspian was a slave, his masters were just so horrible to him, and they kept it up for so long that one day he finally quit responding…he never responded to anything like the rest of us did…when he would do something wrong, Kronos would take him out and beat him all the rest of the day, and he'd never break…" Methos lowered his head for a second as he remembered, and he laughed bitterly as he recalled, "Kronos had only to raise the tone in his voice, and I'd be paralyzed with fear, because I knew what he was capable of."

"And he'd do it with no hesitation," Duncan figured.

"When he was angry, yes…" Methos remembered, "And I remember, even when he wasn't, always being afraid that I would do something, or say something wrong, and he would start on me again…I knew with Kronos, what Richie's felt putting up with you…except with Kronos, most of what I worried about amounted to nothing…but you…you're even more so a ticking time bomb than Kronos ever was. Kronos there was never any telling when he'd go off but you had to do something very appalling by his standards to do it…you on the other hand, you explode if somebody sneezes wrong. At least with Kronos we had a good idea of what to expect. And what we knew him as was after most of the damage was already done to him. He still responded to a lot of things, but not like I did...oddly enough, I suppose that for all the years I was a slave while he was instead being a warrior...I led a more sheltered life than he did, I was still effected by things, I still hurt, I still reacted, but Kronos learned when not to react, just like Caspian, just as we all did eventually."

MacLeod said nothing and wouldn't pick his gaze up from the floor.

"I don't know what it is you want me to say," Methos told him, "But I'm not going to say it. I know what I've done and I live with it every day, you know what you've done, now it's your turn to wear the guilt on your shoulders like the weight of the world. I buried my brother long ago, and now I have to make sure Richie's alright."

Methos got up and headed for the stairs and Duncan followed behind him. Methos stopped in his tracks and Duncan bumped into him. Methos turned his head around so that he could see MacLeod through one eye.

"I'm not saying you were deliberately horrible to Richie," Methos said, "You did what you knew to do, and that's the problem, you're not cut out for this work, you never were but you think you are. That's why Richie's going through this now."

Without another word spoken between them, the two men went up the stairs and back to the loft. It was quiet inside so they opened the door and stepped in. Richie was asleep and showed no signs of waking anytime soon.

"How long," Duncan started to say.

"Shhh!"

"How long do you think Richie's going to sleep?" Duncan asked in a low voice as they made their way across the room.

"I don't know but don't you be getting any bright ideas on waking him up soon," Methos replied in a hushed tone.

Duncan looked out the window and saw from the direction the sun was shining from that it was late afternoon, soon they would be going into the evening.

"Do whatever you want," Duncan replied, "I'm going to start dinner."

"Make sure it's enough for three," Methos told him.

Methos sat down by the bed and watched Richie as he slept. There was something to be said for moments like this when all was quiet and for a short time everything was calm. Especially since, Methos knew, there would be tough times ahead for all of them once he continued his explanation to Richie. Thinking about it all, Methos wasn't even sure himself that this was going to work, he only hoped it would. He had known for years how resilient Richie could be but there was always a limit to how much one person could take. But still, Richie was very young, if he lived a hundred years or a thousand years…or, Methos thought mischievously, five thousand years, he wondered how the boy might turn out. No matter what happened, he knew, Richie would in the long run prove to be a better Immortal than MacLeod could ever hope to be.

Methos leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes; it had been a long day and he had a good idea the night wasn't going to be much more pleasant.

* * *

He woke up when he heard the thunder, and in that same instant he saw the lightning; it seemed to light up the whole room. From the other side of the bed he heard Richie's rapid breathing. Another night like this, he thought. Turning on his side he watched as the boy held his breath at the next clap of thunder and didn't exhale until the noise had stopped.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Richie hesitated for a minute before answering, "I hate storms."

He took pity on the frightened kid; he looked embarrassed by having to admit it. As though there were something wrong with him for it. Of course, part of it he understood as the modern logic, what 17 year old was afraid of storms?

"You always did. When you were a baby and a storm would come up in the middle of the night, you'd cry for the longest time. Your mother, God bless her, was the only person who could get you to quiet down and go back to sleep."

Richie didn't say anything and just seemed to stare up at the ceiling, as though he were trying not to remember being with his mother…or perhaps it was remembering that he was struggling with.

"I know you miss her."

"Some days I'm not even sure if I can remember her," Richie replied, "I forgot a long time ago what she even looked like…and lately, I've been forgetting how she used to sound, you know?"

He smiled briefly in remembrance, "Emily Ryan would speak and what people heard was a saint talking through her. I'll tell you, I never gave much thought to the idea of what goes on in an afterlife…all that jumble about angels and demons and such…but your mother…there was an angel who walked the earth."

"I guess she'd have to be to put up with me," Richie said.

"Don't talk like that, she loved you very much."

"She was the only one," Richie replied.

No, he wanted to tell the boy, she wasn't the only one, but he knew he couldn't, not now anyway.

Lightning filled the room again and before he could even start to count the seconds, a loud explosion of thunder seemed to shake the whole house. Richie, despite his best efforts not to move, started to tremble with every vibration.

He slipped his arms around Richie and pulled the kid back against him, so he could feel the weight of another body against him and know that he wasn't alone. Not, he suspected, like how most of Richie's life had gone; always abandoned and left alone to handle things he needed to get through with another person, someone who understood what he was going through.

"Think you can go to sleep now?" he asked.

"I'll try," the boy responded.

He cursed everybody, both the living and the dead, who had done this to his son. Looking down at the groggy child in his arms, he recalled how much easier Richie used to open up to people around him. Now everything was silence and mind games…sure part of that could be attributed to him growing up…but underneath that lay a far more sinister explanation for it all.

He remembered the first night he'd brought Richie back, undressing him to take in all the physical damage done to him that night. It was no secret this boy had been tortured and abused for many years, but it seemed every single sadist who had taken the boy in had been very clever; whatever techniques they used on the defenseless child, they were always smart enough not to leave any permanent marks. There wasn't a scar to be found on Richie's whole body, but he knew very well that over the course of 13 years that this kid had worn many bruises, cuts and welts as a result of punishment from one foster parent or another.

Now the boy was back with him again, and now that he was, nobody was going to have a chance to hurt him again.

"Graham?"

"What is it, Richie?"

He leaned over and saw the boy had barely opened his eyes and looked ready to fall back asleep.

"…Thanks for everything you've done."

"It's alright, Richie, go to sleep."

The boy leaned back against his chest and closed his eyes again. As the night wore on and the storm continued, he prayed that the kid slept through the remainder of the night undisturbed. They'd already had too many nights like this, Richie in his bed, both of them up all night because he couldn't sleep for some reason or other; and almost every time that it happened, the roots of Richie's problem ran back to somebody he used to live with. He knew from the start that he should never have left Richie but at the time he saw no other way to go about it. Well, they were both paying for it now.

* * *

Methos awoke and realized he was still in the chair by the bed. It didn't look as though too much time had passed. He looked at the clock on the stand by the bed and according to it, he had only been asleep for about half an hour. And yet, it felt as though it had been hours. And also, Methos noticed, once again, it had been no dream he'd had, rather another memory of Kronos' he'd managed to tap into somehow. He wished he could find out what exactly was causing that, though he had a good idea his brother was responsible for a good part of it.

He got up from the chair and went over to the bed. Richie wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon and that much was obvious just by looking at him. Methos leaned in close and kissed Richie above one eye, then he stepped back and sat down again. Richie turned on his side but made no other sign that he was aware of anything around him.

MacLeod seemed to notice something didn't appear right with Methos and he went over to the bedroom.

"Methos?" he said quietly, "Are you okay?"

Methos remained in the chair with a blank look on his face, looking at Richie but not really seeing the boy, rather as though he were looking past the kid. He idly sat there and said nothing for a minute before blurting out of nowhere, "I would've taken him in."

"What?" Duncan asked.

Methos seemed to remember where he was then and he straightened himself up and looked at MacLeod, "If I'd have been the one to find Richie, I would've taken him in…and I would've kept him."

This came as a genuine surprise to MacLeod, and for a moment he wasn't sure if he was hearing things correctly.

Methos stood up and walked over to MacLeod, "You asked me what I would've done if I'd found him instead of Kronos…I think I know his life better than anybody else does…I wouldn't turn him away and let him be an easy target for anybody. I may have a lot of concern for my own survival, but even I'm not so dead set on surviving that I would throw a defenseless child to the wolves. I know what I did in my previous lives but I'm not a completely heartless bastard, you know."

"I know," Duncan quietly replied, feeling none too proud of himself for his actions earlier in the year, "I know."

Methos headed over to the kitchen and MacLeod followed behind him.

"Do you think Richie will be alright?"

"You keep asking me that," Methos said as he opened the fridge and took out a beer.

"I know, I'm just nervous…I've never seen him like this before."

"No surprise, half the time you were never around when he needed you," Methos replied, "And the other half you always blamed him for whatever bad things happened to him. There _never_ was much sympathy to be expected from you for anybody, was there?"

"Methos…" Duncan said, clearly showing much restraint not to lose it, "Are you here to help Richie or to insult me?"

"Well," Methos coyly replied with a bit of a sparkle in his eyes, "If possible, both."

That seemed to bring something else to Duncan's mind and he seemed to calm down. Then, it was with dread instead of growing fury that he said again, "Methos?"

"What?"

"Earlier you said…a lot of why Richie is the way he is…is because of me. Is that true?"

Another moment of truth, oh Methos was coming to hate these.

"Yes, MacLeod," Methos replied, "I know that's hard for you to accept, that you could be the cause of somebody's problems…but you are. I seem to recall reading in a report how before Richie died, he gave you a lot of trouble."

"He was…" Duncan shook his head as he remembered, "He never listened to anything I said, I'd tell him not to do something, and he did it anyway, he always took matters into his own hands."

"Gee, he acts _just_ like you do and you get mad at him for it," Methos said, "Then he turns around and does what you teach him to do, and you get mad at him for that too. How is he ever supposed to win? He knew living with you was a no win situation, no matter what he did, you were always going to blame him for something, or be mad at him for something…why do you think he always put on a tough act around you? Why do you think he never told you when something was wrong? Because even then he knew how you'd react. There is no place in your life for weak people, unless you're sleeping with them, and he knew that wasn't a possibility, so he had to be tough, he could never let you know what he was really thinking."

"So why did he even come? Why did he move in with us if I was that unbearable to live with?" Duncan asked.

"He saw you kill a man, MacLeod, he knew that you could track him down at any time, he knew that you could find out where he was living and everything about him from the police, what choice did he have?" Methos asked, "His whole life he's never done anything because he saw it was his choice. Everything he's done at other's commands was never what he wanted, it was always what he was forced to do, where he saw he had no options. And when he moved in with you, it was no better. Everything was always do what you say or suffer the consequences. He never had any room to make any decisions for himself _except_ when he went against your orders, and he was punished for that. It's a good thing Immortals can't have children because I reckon if you had any of your own, they all would've killed themselves long before now just to get away from your dictatorial ruling over their every movement."

Duncan wanted to be angry at Methos, wanted so much to scream at the other man he was wrong. And yet he couldn't, every word that Methos spoke came back and hit MacLeod in the face like a sharp piece of glass; he felt the truth of the words cut through him. And yet, of all the things that were hard for him to do, admitting when he was wrong was at the top of the list. For the moment he said nothing about it and just responded with, "Sometimes I don't know why I put up with you."

"You don't put up with me, MacLeod," Methos told him as he turned and walked away, "_I_ put up with _you_, unpleasant but I manage without killing you. You should be grateful for that much. If Kronos knew when he was alive what you had done to Richie, I have a good idea you wouldn't be here to argue with."

Duncan stopped and turned back around to face Methos, as if to accuse him, _how_ could he say such a thing? And still he said nothing, not wanting this to turn into an even bigger mess than it already was.

"Maybe," Methos said as he walked back over to the bed and knelt down beside Richie, who hadn't been awakened by their arguing, "It would be better if I took Richie back to my apartment."

"Your apartment? Why?" Duncan asked, clearly not anticipating this turn of events.

"I think it'd be better if we got out of your way for a while," Methos said as he stroked the back of Richie's head, "I get the impression that we're only being a burden to you. How nice to know what a person's really like when somebody needs them. But, why should I be surprised? Anytime anything has to come in and ruin your perfect life…"

"Where do you," Duncan started to say as he walked over to Methos.

"Shhh!"

"Where do you get off," Duncan repeated quieter, "Saying that I ever had a perfect life? Every single time I thought things were going to be better, they weren't. Something always happened that threw me back into the Game."

"And that's what we Immortals are prone to dealing with in our lifetimes," Methos replied, "You like telling other Immortals what's not meant to be when their plans for a normal life are ruined. So why is it _you_ expect things to work out for yourself? Why bother falling in love with a mortal, knowing how limited their time is, knowing how it's never meant to be? Why bother taking kids in, knowing they're just additional targets for anybody looking for you, knowing that they're also going to die too early?"

"This coming from a man who was married to 67 mortal women," Duncan said.

"I never said _I_ play the Game," Methos responded as he glared up at MacLeod, "I'm like my brother, I fight, and kill when I have to, but I don't go looking for trouble. I accept it as part of my life but I don't follow the rules. I'm not like you, MacLeod, I have no clan, no honor, no code of ethics, no rules…I was never the son to any great warrior. I was a slave, property, rubbish, I was born into the gutter, so shall there I stay. _That's_ why I understand Richie's problems so well now, because his life is not too different from my own. A man of your sort could never understand what a kid like this," he pointed to Richie, "Has had to endure, it's not in your nature."

Both men's attention was turned toward Richie when they heard him start to moan. Richie turned onto his back and opened his eyes, barely, "Methos?"

"I'm right here, Richie," he said as he took the boy's hand in his own, "How are you feeling?"

"Alright I guess," Richie tiredly answered, "What's going on?"

Methos' eyes turned to daggers as he looked up at MacLeod and answered, "Nothing, everything's fine…go back to sleep."

Richie's eyes which were already tiny slits, closed as he rested against the pillows again. Methos stroked the top of his head once as he stood up and looked MacLeod dead in the eyes.

"If we're going to continue this conversation, I suggest we move it _back_ to the kitchen," he said.

"Right behind you," Duncan said as he followed the older Immortal.

They returned to the other side of the loft and the first thing Methos did was go over to the stove and lift the lid on what was cooking.

"Whew that smells awful," he said as he reached for a bottle of garlic salt, "Where did you learn to cook? What're you trying to do, kill us all with food poisoning?"

"I can't even remember now what we were arguing about," Duncan said.

"We were discussing what a horrible job you did with Richie," Methos responded as he seasoned the food and put the lid back on.

"I did what I knew to do," Duncan said.

"Which is the problem," Methos returned, "What do you know about raising kids? You don't trust a pacifist to be a good soldier, you don't expect a bishop to know the ins and outs of birth control, and you sure as hell don't trust somebody who's 400 years old, never been married and never had children to do a good job of raising a teenager."

"Alright, Methos," Duncan said, getting tired of this, "I get the point, I screwed up, okay? Are you happy?"

Methos smiled ever so slightly, "Well it's a start, now try telling Richie that when he wakes up and we'll be getting somewhere."

Duncan grumbled but didn't say coherently what it was that was going through his mind at that moment. And then he felt a horrible stabbing pain in his back.

"YEOUCH!"

Methos jumped at MacLeod and slapped his hand over the Scot's mouth. "Will you shut up? Are you trying to wake the kid up? What's the matter with you?"

Duncan stepped back and said, "I think I've been stabbed."

They both turned around and saw their answer laying on the kitchen counter. Methos started to laugh.

"You punctured yourself on a barbecue fork, _really_, MacLeod, what is the matter with you?" Methos asked.

"But I…"

Now Duncan was confused. He knew that at no time in the day had he gotten that fork out, and neither had Methos, and Richie had been in bed all the time, he couldn't have done it either. He put it back on its rack and started to wonder just what in the hell was going on.


	5. Chapter 5

Kronos sat at the edge of the bed and watched his brother and MacLeod with more than just mild interest. He'd been waiting here since they had returned, and he had been sitting patiently, listening to those two carry on like an old married couple. That very thought turned his stomach and he had a pretty good idea why that was. Over the day he'd been having some fun at MacLeod's expense, little things that he hadn't been able to put together yet, and it was all building up for something much better. What made it work was that for the moment, nobody could see or hear Kronos, so they didn't know he was there, and he was going to use that to his advantage.

He turned to Richie and even though the boy was asleep and like Methos and MacLeod, couldn't see or hear him, he said, "Just look at those two, Richie…now there's a couple most unusual. Oh, Methos does alright on his end of it, but MacLeod," he cackled, "Now there's an eighth wonder of the world if ever I saw one."

Richie didn't make a sound and he didn't move except for the continual light breathing as he continued to sleep. Kronos knew why this was happening; it wasn't so much that it was the first decent sleep Richie had had while sober in two months, as it was that he knew he couldn't run from this so he was trying to escape from it the only other way he could, in sleep.

Kronos grabbed Richie by the wrist and felt the boy's steady pulse; given everything Richie had been put through in one day it seemed to be running a bit slow. He knew that Richie had been close to the edge to begin with and several times today he had come severely close to falling off completely.

"Don't worry, Richie," he said even though he knew the boy couldn't hear him, "Soon enough it'll all be over."

A thought came to him and a sinister grin formed on his face as his eyes looked over to the other end of the room. He told Richie to watch, and he got up and went over to MacLeod and kicked the highlander as hard as he could.

"YEOUCH!"

"Now what's wrong?" Methos asked.

Duncan turned around and saw nothing, "Somebody…kicked me."

"MacLeod, I think you're losing it," Methos said, "There's nobody here except you, me and Richie and he's clear over on the other side of the loft."

"Of course," Kronos said to Richie, "You don't think I'm going to let him know what's going on, do you?" He shook his head, "No…I don't think we ought to tell him, let's let him wonder a bit…and that thing," he pointed to MacLeod, "Especially let's let it wonder."

Methos left the kitchen and went over to the bed and shook Richie's shoulder to wake him up. Richie murmured a little and turned on his side before opening his eyes.

"Are you feeling better, Richie?"

Tiredly he answered, "A little."

"That's good," Methos said as he pulled Richie up and propped up the pillows behind him, "It's time for dinner."

"I'm not hungry," Richie replied.

"You need to eat, and I can tell by looking at you that you haven't been doing too much of that for a while," Methos told him as he went back to the kitchen.

"Methos," Richie was barely awake, "I really don't think I can eat anything now."

"Richie, I can carry subtleness only so far," Methos said as he returned with a plate of food and a fork, "And the way I see it you have two choices right now. Either you can feed yourself or I'm going to have to feed you like a baby. Which is it going to be?"

Richie looked at Methos with accusing eyes, as if to say 'You wouldn't dare', but he knew Methos would. So he humored the older Immortal and ate a few bites before pushing the plate away and lying back down. Methos took the plate and headed back to the kitchen, where MacLeod sat and watched the events in the bedroom. He turned to Methos and had an unreadable expression on his face but Methos knew it was to say he didn't like the way things were going.

"I think the boy's doing just fine," Methos said, "He's been calm for most of the day, he's sober, he's eating now, it's a lot more than could be said for him this morning."

Another thought in Methos' mind at the time was that part of the reason MacLeod was upset by this all was because _he_ hadn't been the one to find out what was the matter. That somebody else had to explain everything to Richie and help him get through it, Methos was certain that MacLeod just hated that and if his behavior for that day was any indicator, it seemed Methos was right.

"I guess we'd better eat too before it gets cold," Methos said.

MacLeod turned his attention away from Richie and joined Methos at the table. "You said that Kronos used to raise children before?"

"A long time ago when he got married and his wife already had children, yes," Methos replied.

"Were you there?"

"Not often but I did see how he was with them," Methos answered.

MacLeod said nothing for a minute before finally asking, "What was he like?"

"Not like how you remember him," Methos told him, "He was…well that's not really easy to answer. Kronos was like you in a way, he had trouble accepting things for what they were, he always had to have the final say on something."

"What do you mean?" Duncan asked.

"I mean…" Methos tried to think of how to explain it, "He knew that when he married, the kids he raised weren't his own, Lord knows everybody reminded him of it enough…but he wouldn't accept that…he decided to make them his."

"How?"

Methos looked on ahead with eyes that appeared to be blank as he remembered one time when the Four Horsemen were new, and they had become the new masters over several women, one of whom had given birth to a son, whom Kronos had named Erastus.

* * *

It was shortly after Rahab had died. Kronos watched over Erastus almost possessively. The eight year old child had been torn apart by his mother's death and they all had to keep a close watch on him, as he was wont to sneak away from them and return to her grave. Kronos had been as good as the boy's own father, but losing the mother made him aware of how close he might come to losing his son as well. For some reason that didn't sound right, he knew that he wasn't _really_ Erastus' father, that had been the master they killed when they came into this part of the desert. And to make matters worse, Kronos and Rahab had never been married. So anyway it could be looked at, the idea of Erastus being his son was a vague one.

One night Kronos watched Erastus as he slept. The child wasn't aware of anything that was going on around him, and as much as he'd already been put through recently, Kronos was thankful for that. He grabbed the child's tiny wrist in his hand but was careful not to press on a wound he'd gotten on his arm from falling against a rock; they'd already gotten most of the bleeding to stop but it would take a while to heal. Kronos cursed mortals, and their creator for making them so vulnerable. Why should he and his brothers live forever when everyone else would die one day and rot? Why did Rahab have to die? For that matter, why had his daughter Mary have to die? Why did any of them have to die, and yet these four men and others like them would live forever provided they kept their heads?

Kronos hadn't been affected so much at the time losing Rahab, but now he knew it might not be too long before something happened to Erastus and he had to bury the child too. And yet, Kronos wasn't willing to bury another child that wasn't his, and it was then that an idea came to him.

Methos had been wandering around that night unable to sleep, he came up to Kronos' tent and stepped in. It was mostly dark except for the flame from one oil lamp, and in the light from the blaze he saw Kronos hovering over the child, doing something, but he couldn't see what. So Methos stepped further in until he was right behind Kronos, who hadn't seemed to acknowledge his brother's appearance.

Methos watched as Kronos took his dagger and cut open two of the fingers on his right hand and before they could heal, smeared his blood over Erastus' forehead until it resembled a cross. Then he removed the cloth that covered the wound on Erastus' arm, and let his blood mix with the boy's as his wounds closed up. Methos saw this all and said nothing, he only met with Kronos' stare when his brother turned around and looked up at him.

"Now," Kronos said in explanation, "He _is_ my son."

* * *

"Kronos had a way of declaring the kids he raised as his own," Methos explained to MacLeod, "He would mark them in his blood. Any superstitious people who existed at that time would probably have seen it as his way of protecting them from something. Now there's an idea that never really died out."

"What do you mean?" MacLeod asked.

"The religious beliefs that the symbol of a cross can protect somebody from evil…" he laughed, "I never took Kronos as being either sort of person but I guess at the time he had some belief in the idea too. Remember I told you that he and I were brothers in blood…that's how he declared his children too, in blood, his blood…so that in a way, they couldn't really be taken from him. I don't know that he ever really believed it, but I think he wanted it to work. He lost so many people early on, and I remember how hard it was on him every single time…until one day he just quit responding to the loss. I think he was just so tired of having everybody around him die that he forced himself not to get attached from there on."

Methos grew quiet after that and shifted his gaze downward.

"Are you alright?" Duncan asked.

"I spent a long time hating him for what he'd become," Methos answered, "I still do…and I know I shouldn't…in retrospect I guess he couldn't help what happened to him. I just remember that I changed, and he didn't…and I knew he wouldn't, and still I couldn't kill him…and now," Methos glanced over towards the bedroom, "Apparently it's a good thing that I couldn't."

He got up from the table and leaned against the wall, "I know that Kronos wasn't _really_ Richie's father, not in the complete sense…but there's still a part of him that lives on in Richie. I can't say with any certainty what it is, but I know there is."

Methos walked over to the bed and sat down at the foot of it, and watched Richie while he slept.

* * *

Later in the evening, Duncan had called Joe to let him know how things were going so far. While he did that, Methos hadn't moved from his spot on the bed and in fact had fallen asleep and laid sprawled over the foot of it. Richie was still in the middle of the bed asleep, and Kronos rested on the narrow end of the bed next to Richie. He looked to Richie, and then to his brother, and he shook his head.

"It must be fate how I keep getting thrown together with people like this," he said.

He looked down at his brother who was positioned awkwardly in his sleep. Kronos turned to Richie, who was also asleep and unaware of the third presence and said, "He's going to be uncomfortable sleeping like that, you know."

He reached down to the foot of the bed and pulled Methos' arm out from under him so Methos lay flat at the end of the bed. Kronos looked to Richie again and saw that while the boy was resting calmly, it obviously was not peacefully. His head started to sway slightly from side to side and he was moaning. It was as though Richie had suddenly become aware of an unwanted presence close to him. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and Richie tried to turn away from it.

"Don't worry, Richie, soon it'll all be over."

Methos heard the moaning and woke up and immediately he was like a mother trying to quiet a crying baby. He moved to Richie and tried to get him to wake up to see that whatever he was dreaming about wasn't really there, and in the process he climbed over to the other side of the bed and on top of Kronos.

"Do you mind?" Kronos asked, "You're getting a little big to be sitting on my lap all the time."

"Come on, Richie, wake up," Methos said as he shook the younger Immortal to get his attention.

Richie's eyes popped open and with a startled scream, he jumped up and threw his arms around Methos.

"Take it easy, Richie, what's the matter?" Methos asked.

Richie looked around the room and realized where he was and who he was with and he started to calm down.

"Nothing," he replied as he pulled away from Methos, embarrassed.

"A nightmare?"

Richie didn't move when he heard that, neither confirming nor denying it. Finally he said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine, you don't have to."

"Methos…"

Methos saw the fear in Richie's eyes at that moment. He knew that whatever the boy had just awoken from, it was nothing short of terrifying.

"I don't think I _can_ go back to sleep after that…"

But Methos could see that Richie was also struggling just to stay awake.

"It's alright, Richie, whatever it is, it can't get you, you know that."

Richie nodded tiredly. Despite all the hours he had slept, his eyes were so bloodshot that they were painful just to look at. Methos pushed Richie back against the pillows and he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep again.

Kronos tapped Methos on the shoulder even though he knew his brother couldn't feel it. "Well, Doc, what would you recommend for the patient? I don't suppose you're wont to carrying around trays of opiates anymore, are you? No I suppose not, you're a bit too moral for that today aren't you? But then again when were you ever moral? And where did that start anyway? And _why?_"

Duncan hung up the phone and went over to the bed; Methos looked up at him waiting to hear what had happened.

"Well?"

"I told Joe how things were going here…he asked again if there was anything he could do. I told him there wasn't, he asked that we let him know if anything else happens. How's Richie?"

"Recovering slowly, but any progress is still progress," Methos answered as he got up, "He's had a long time to spiral downwards into his own personal hell…it's not something that he's going to come out of overnight. About all we can do for the time being is just…be here if he needs us, but don't hover over him like a couple of vultures, he needs room to breathe as well."

Duncan knelt down beside the bed and looked at Richie as he slept. "If only I'd been paying attention, I would have known something was wrong with him…"

"What's done is done, MacLeod, let it be," Methos said, "All we can do is help him now and that's what matters."

"I should've watched him better," Duncan said.

"You did what you could."

"I mean from the beginning, Connor told me that he needed looking after…but I was always busy and Tessa was always working…even with us he was alone."

"Alone, but not free to do what he wanted," Methos replied, "Rather just what was demanded of him."

MacLeod looked like he was about sick.

"Do you think he'll ever be able to forgive me?"

"That's your problem, MacLeod, you're always thinking about how other people can cater to what you want, instead of worrying about how they need help," Methos said.

"And…" Duncan struggled with the words he chose next, "How do we help him now?"

"When he wakes up again, I'm going to see if he remembers anything else about when he lived with Kronos," Methos said, "It's important that he does remember, as much as possible."

* * *

A couple hours later Richie woke up and through one eye saw Methos looking at him. He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep but Methos pulled Richie back around to face him.

"No you don't, Richie, come on, wake up."

"What's going on?" Richie asked.

"You have to wake up."

"Why?"

"So you won't be up all night, fond as we are of your company, we need to get some sleep too."

Richie sat up but wouldn't get out of bed, looking at Methos through half opened eyes.

"Richie," Methos said as he sat down at the foot of the bed again, "I wanted to ask you if you remember anything about when you were originally living with Kronos."

"I tried thinking about it," Richie answered, "For a long time I couldn't think of anything from back then…and then I remembered…just not very well."

"What did you remember?" Methos asked.

"Well…I remember seeing Graham at the same time that I was with Emily…but you said it was after he left that she became my foster mother?"

Methos nodded.

"But I remember spending more time with her in the day than Graham…I didn't think about that for the longest time, but, now that I think of it, it seems kind of surreal, like Graham was the neighbor and that she was already my mother. But that's not the way it was, is it?"

"He was as good as your father and she was as good as your mother, perhaps they saw it as joint custody," Methos suggested, "I think near the time Kronos left, he made sure you spent more time around Emily so it wouldn't be a big adjustment for you living with her, and him not being around."

"You know," Richie said, "I still wonder, how different things would have been if he would've just taken me with him…or if I hadn't left him."

Methos didn't say anything for a moment. He looked across the room to MacLeod who stayed in the kitchen so as the boy would not feel crowded in on.

"Why don't you tell me about the night you got arrested?" Methos asked.

"What about it?"

"Well you were living with Kronos at the time, why were you stealing?"

"I needed the money," Richie answered.

"Why? You were staying with Kronos and he'd already said you were welcome to stay as long as you wanted."

"I'd heard that one before," Richie said, "If I was going to end up on the streets again, I needed something to go on. Whether somebody took me in or I was on my own, I needed a way to make sure I had money so I could get away."

"And when the police picked you up," Methos added, "Why didn't you tell Kronos what had happened?"

"The people who were paid to take me in wouldn't come down and get me if I was arrested, why would he?" Richie asked, "I wasn't anything to him, and why should I bother him anyway? He'd already put himself out for me, giving me a place to stay…and if he found out…I thought he'd tell me to leave."

"But he never said anything about it, did he?" Methos asked.

"They usually didn't," Richie said, "The only warning you got was _after_ you did something wrong and those people only allowed one strike and you were out."

"But when Kronos found out, that's not what happened, is it?" Methos asked.

Richie shook his head, "He found out…I don't know how…I didn't want him to know…and he started asking me, why didn't I tell him I'd been arrested? Why didn't I have him come down and bail me out? Do you know what that was like? Nobody in my whole life had ever said that to me, they would've just left me to rot in jail." A chill seemed to run through his body as he remembered and he clutched the blankets tighter against his body, "And he _still_ would've kept me…but I had to do what was 'best for me' and leave…oh man I was so stupid!"

His fists pounded the mattress beneath him. Through the corner of Methos' eyes he saw that oh so familiar look on MacLeod's face, one that anticipated disaster, one that said he was just waiting for the hammer to fall before he moved to dominate over the situation at hand as he was notorious for doing.

"Try not to excite yourself," Methos said calmly to the boy, "What exactly was his reaction when you told him you were leaving?"

"Well he said he knew that the day was coming, he just didn't know it would be as soon as it was. That was pretty much it, I got my stuff packed and he…" there was a pause as Richie recalled the events of that day, "He stopped me before I left…he kissed me and told me that he loved me, and then I left, and I never saw him again. I didn't know what to think about it at the time…I mean, nobody had ever said that to me…"

"Except for your mother."

Richie nodded, "And I remember as I walked out of the house, I stopped for a minute and wondered…what exactly am I leaving? And what exactly am I walking into? Then and there I knew I'd made a mistake, and I should've turned around and gone back, but I just kept on walking. And after I moved in with Mac, I started to wonder if he threw me out, would I be able to go back? I didn't think so because I thought once Graham realized what he'd gotten rid of, he'd be relieved…if only I'd known…"

Methos looked through the corner of his eye again, over to MacLeod who at this point looked ready to crawl under a rock and die. Returning his attention to Richie, he pulled the covers up tightly over the kid and told him to go back to sleep. Richie laid back down and closed his eyes and before too long was dead to the world again. Methos leaned over and kissed Richie, then got up from the bed and went over to the kitchen.

"How's he doing?" Duncan asked.

"Alright," Methos answered, "I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but he's improving."

"So what do we do now?" Duncan asked.

"It's getting late," Methos said, "I suggest we get ready for bed ourselves."

Methos went over to the closet and started to dig out the extra bedding. Duncan wasn't sure what he was doing so he went over to the closet just as Methos started tossing pillows and blankets behind him.

"What're you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Methos asked, "We've got to sleep somewhere here tonight too. You take the couch, I'll sleep on the floor."

"The couch?"

"MacLeod, I think Richie's been emotionally scarred enough for one day, I think we can agree the last thing he needs right now is to wake up in the same bed with you," Methos said, "Like I said, you take the couch, I'll take the floor. But do us all a favor and next time you buy furniture, get a couch with a hide-a-bed in it."

Methos tossed Duncan one of the pillows and one of the blankets and sent the highlander off to make his own bed for the night.

"And where exactly do you plan to spend the night?" Duncan asked.

"On the floor between you and the bed," Methos said, "That way if anything happens during the night, I'll be the closest to it."

Methos grabbed the other bedding and went behind the couch and straightened everything out on the floor before climbing into the makeshift bed and pulled the covers up over him. He sincerely hoped that they all slept well that night but he had an idea that before too long, they would all be getting up again.


	6. Chapter 6

1996

Richie didn't know where he was already or where he'd been, but he didn't dare slow down anytime yet. It had been only a few hours since Duncan had come after trying for his head and almost succeeding. Richie wasn't sure where to go that he would be safe, he just knew that he couldn't stop anywhere yet.

The sun was starting to expand towards the west and he knew it would be getting dark soon. He still wasn't sure what to make of what had happened back in town. MacLeod, the guy he'd trusted with his life had damn near taken his head, and he would've if Joe hadn't been there. Richie hoped Joe was alright but he knew that with the way MacLeod was now, it wouldn't do him any good to hold his breath.

Finally Richie got to a point where he just couldn't continue anymore, he had to stop. So he did stop, in a small suburban area not far off from the river, and when he looked around, he couldn't help but notice how familiar everything seemed. Richie got off his bike and looked around, he couldn't put his finger on it but he knew that he had been here before.

When the buzz of another Quickening hit Richie, he thought he had lost his mind. He struggled with himself not to lose it now as he took out his sword and prepared to face his opponent. Slowly he turned around to see who was there, praying that MacLeod hadn't found a way to catch up with him.

"Richie!"

He knew that voice. He jerked around and saw a man he hadn't seen for years and had just about forgotten about completely.

"Graham? Oh my God…"

That was the moment that he lost it. He threw his arms around the man who had once taken him in and he cried harder then than he ever had in his entire life. He lost the grip on his sword and it dropped between them, making things a bit awkward for both of them.

"Richie, what's the matter?" he asked, "What's happened?"

Richie had tried to explain but he was too upset to be coherent. Graham put his arms around Richie and led the boy up a set of stairs and into an old house and took him directly into the bedroom and laid him down and tried to get him to calm down. Richie spent over an hour exhausting himself in trying to explain and finally he just gave up and cried himself to sleep.

When he woke up a few hours later, Graham was standing over him, waiting.

"Now tell me again what's happened," he said.

Richie told him everything, about moving in with Duncan and Tessa, when he became Immortal, and everything else that had happened up till MacLeod had taken the Dark Quickening.

"I didn't know what to do so I just left…and I wound up back here," he explained at the end of it all.

Graham didn't say anything and Richie was worried because he wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean. Graham got up and went over to a cabinet on the other end of the room and took out a bottle of bourbon and poured a glass and came back and handed it to Richie.

"Drink this."

It was stronger stuff than he was used to but he managed to swallow it. Then he laid back down and looked up at Graham.

"Perhaps I ought to pay this…Duncan MacLeod a visit," he said.

"No, Graham, don't do that!" Richie said as he shot up in bed.

"Why not?"

"He might kill you too."

"I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing, Richie, but I'm not exactly a stranger to Dark Quickenings. I'm a bit older than I give the impression of being."

"Graham, can I ask you a question?" Richie asked.

"Of course, what is it?"

"Why didn't you tell me? About Immortals, you knew I'd become one someday, didn't you?"

"I knew there was that possibility," he answered.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Richie wanted to know.

"I had no right to at the time, I didn't know that you would become Immortal one day, it only would've made your life even more complicated than it already was at the time and you were already too close to jumping off the edge of your sanity."

"Shouldn't it have been up to me to decide what I could and couldn't handle?" Richie asked.

"Maybe it should've been but I didn't want to see you get hurt anymore than you already had…and had I known then who you were going to be moving in with…I'm sorry, Richie. I made a mistake in letting you go."

"It's my fault for leaving," Richie said.

"You didn't know what you were getting into," he replied.

Richie didn't pay any attention to him and let all the grief that had been building up wash over him again.

* * *

Kronos watched Richie while he slept, and he cursed the man who did this to his son. He knew the man, Duncan MacLeod; he seemed to recall a run-in with the infamous highlander nearly a hundred years ago in Texas. He'd been pissed off at that little incident that ended his run as El Gato, but this time he was going to find MacLeod, and draw blood, because this time it was personal.

He reminded himself that that would have to wait, right now he had to keep an eye on Richie and make sure that he was alright. Then the next thing he would have to do would be find MacLeod without Richie knowing. He remembered the look of horror on Richie's face when he'd made the suggestion of finding MacLeod. And if Richie knew what Kronos had planned to do, the boy might get in the way and try to stop him. That could have dire consequences for the wrong person and Kronos couldn't let that happen after everything else Richie had already been put through.

It seemed that for the time being, he was just going to have to be patient and not jump into anything. Truth be known, patience wasn't one of his strongest features, but it would have to do for the time being. He would have to keep a close eye on Richie until he was certain the boy was well enough to survive on his own. Once he was certain of that, then he would go hunting for the highlander.

Richie slept clear through the night and Kronos watched him during every minute of it. He'd already let his son down before and it was inexcusable on his part; he wasn't about to let anything more happen if he had anything to do with it. The next day, Richie seemed overwhelmed by what had happened to say the least. Kronos didn't know how long Richie had been on the run since escaping the highlander, but for the whole morning and most of the afternoon he hardly woke up and wouldn't get out of bed. This seemed rather familiar to Kronos and he remembered the week Richie had spent in bed when he was sick shortly after moving back in with him. It seemed every time Richie came back into his life, something was wrong, fate always seemed to be playing a cruel joke on the kid.

Richie barely opened his eyes and saw the older Immortal staring at him.

"How're you feeling?" Kronos asked.

"I don't know…alright I guess," Richie replied, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," he answered, "Everything's fine."

Naturally he wasn't about to tell the boy what ideas were really going through his mind. First he was going to make sure Richie could handle being on his own again, and then Kronos was going hunting for a 400 year old hypocrite. He'd heard quite a few stories about MacLeod over the years, a supposed protector of the innocents, some protector, nearly killing his own student, and this being the second attempt, not the first. There was something to people like MacLeod that Kronos just couldn't stomach. He might have been a murderous bastard for most of his life but he would admit it, he didn't delude himself with the illusions that he was a good man or was holier than the next Immortal he met.

The slowly passing hours turned to days, and the days to a week, then two weeks, and so on until almost a whole month had passed. Slowly but surely Richie had returned to what seemed to be normal for him. Even so, he hardly left the house and didn't respond much to the idea of leaving. Naturally Kronos wasn't about to throw him out, he reinstated the offer that Richie could stay with him for as long as he wanted, and he meant it.

Richie showed no interest in leaving anytime soon, which was fine with Kronos. Of course their living conditions were not without their problems. Many was the night Kronos would wake up from a dead sleep and find Richie in the other side of the bed after a recurring nightmare of being back at the dojo with MacLeod about to take his head. Some nights neither of them got any sleep because the memories haunted the boy so.

Other nights Kronos didn't have Richie come to him when the memories surfaced, other nights he had to go to Richie because he was on the floor in his room, awake but not aware of where he was or who was with him. On some of those nights, it was as though Richie while he was still trapped forever in a 19-year-old's body, his mental age seemed to go backwards and it was as though he were three years old again, scared of everything and everyone and nearly impossible to console. On one of those nights that Kronos found himself sitting on the floor, rocking a regressed Richie in his lap until he went to sleep, when he came to a final conclusion; as long as Duncan MacLeod lived, Richie's mental health suffered, as long as Richie knew MacLeod was alive, he was never going to get over what happened to him.

A few days passed with little trouble; Richie didn't experience any further nightmares and Kronos knew there wouldn't be a better time than now to go looking for the highlander. One night he discussed several things with Richie, one of them being that he would be disappearing for a little while. Unofficially he wouldn't tell Richie why he was leaving, officially he only said it was for personal reasons.

"But you're coming back, right?" Richie asked.

"Of course I am, I just need to…get away for a while and think some things through, a few days, a few weeks maybe…but I'll be back, and when I return I expect to still find you here," Kronos told him.

"No problem," Richie replied, "Where else am I going to go?"

"You're going to get better, Richie," he said.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Graham, nothing like this has ever happened to me before," Richie insisted.

"I'll come back, and you're going to be alright," Kronos told him, "Believe me."

* * *

Apparently MacLeod's days of traveling the globe were currently at a halt, Kronos concluded when he arrived at Seacouver and realized that Duncan MacLeod was reported as being back in town for quite some time. He stood across the street from the dojo and watched it for a while, nobody was coming in or going out at the moment. Kronos decided he'd stay where he was and wait and see what happened.

With every passing moment Kronos thought back to what had become of Richie as a result of MacLeod trying to take his head. Oh he was going to revel in the Scot's defeat when the time came. Then he would go back and see to Richie, he knew the boy would be alright for a while as he was but Kronos didn't believe in taking too many unnecessary chances where Richie's wellbeing was concerned. He would never forget the screams that had woken him up in the middle of the night, and the terror in Richie's eyes, those eyes which had become alien and unidentifiable, when he woke up in the night, terrified he was back with MacLeod.

Finally his patience seemed to pay off. Kronos was too far away to feel the other man's quickening, but he would recognize MacLeod anywhere after Texas. He saw MacLeod enter the dojo, and he waited a few seconds and took that as his cue to follow. This was something he'd been looking forward to for a long time, but until recently it was for different reasons. Now he was here to make sure that this bastard got what was coming to him.

He went inside and was still too far away to notice MacLeod's quickening and vice versa. But he could see MacLeod near the elevator, and he decided now was a good time to get themselves reacquainted.

"Adios, highlander, now you see me, now you don't."

MacLeod recognized that voice. He turned around and Kronos stepped far enough into the room that they were able to feel the others' quickenings. MacLeod froze when he saw the man standing before him, at first as though he were trying to remember, and then it came to him.

"Koren," he said.

Kronos took out his sword and replied, "Call me whatever you want, in a few minutes you're going to be dead anyway."

"What're you doing here?" MacLeod asked as he drew his own sword.

"I'm here on business," Kronos answered, "_Private_ business. You remember Richie, don't you?"

The mask of horror that MacLeod's face became struck Kronos as being nothing short of hilarious; it seemed that the highlander had interpreted that wrong and taken it as meaning that Kronos had killed Richie.

"I wouldn't worry about that, MacLeod," Kronos said, "He's still around, in fair condition. That's why I'm here, to make sure he doesn't suffer anymore than he already has because of you."

Their blades met and the fight had begun. Kronos wasn't in much of a mood to pussyfoot around and attempted to end it already by grabbing MacLeod by the neck and pulling his neck towards the blade of the sword. MacLeod broke loose and knocked Kronos back against the wall. Kronos moved away from the wall and narrowly avoided MacLeod's katana gutting him like a pig. They moved back into the middle of the room and went at it again, each matched the other's move blow by blow and they seemed to be evenly matched. However Kronos hadn't come out here to even entertain the notion of defeat, and he was tired of playing around. With one hand behind his back he pulled a knife out of his back pocket and before MacLeod could see it, he buried it up to the hilt into the highlander's stomach.

MacLeod fell to his knees and lost the grip on his sword, he looked up at Kronos and demanded to know, "What are you?!"

"I am the end of time," Kronos answered the second before landing the killing blow.

* * *

Duncan woke up screaming and at first he couldn't remember where he was, all he knew was that he was surrounded by darkness. Then he remembered what had happened and decided he had better see if Richie was alright. He jumped over the couch and tripped on something in the dark and fell to the floor.

"MacLeod," Methos said beneath him in a tone not amused in the least, "Would you mind getting _off my back_?! What's the matter with you?"

MacLeod, still caught up in the immediate aftermath of his nightmare tried to explain, "Richie, he's…he's…"

Methos got up and looked over towards the bed. "Still sound asleep no thanks to you," he said, "It's a wonder you didn't get the whole town up."

MacLeod let out a sigh of relief and said, "I had a horrible nightmare, that he…that Kronos…I…"

"Thankfully it doesn't seem to be contagious," Methos remarked, "Richie's quiet as the dead."

"I don't know why he came back," Duncan said, "Why did he ever think he could trust me again."

"I don't think you gave him a choice in that matter either," Methos told him.

"You're right," Duncan realized as he went back to the couch, "What's the matter with me? Why am I always such an ass?"

"Oh we can all guess what the answer to that is," Methos commented.

"Methos."

"What?"

"Will you go over and check and make sure he's alright?"

"Of all the absurd ideas, MacLeod," Methos said.

But he knew that it was only out of concern for Richie giving the hell he'd been put through lately, so Methos went over to the bed and saw Richie was still in a sound sleep and he appeared to be resting peacefully.

"He's fine," Methos reported as he went back to his bed on the floor.

"You're sure?" Duncan asked.

"Positive," Methos replied.

"Methos…"

His temper was starting to grow much shorter, "What?"

"Are you sure Richie's going to be alright sleeping by himself?" Duncan asked, "I mean if he wakes up and he's alone…"

"He's not alone," Methos replied, "We're right here."

"But will he know that if he has another nightmare?"

Methos wasn't sure where this all was going but he decided to try and humor the younger man.

"MacLeod, if it'll make you feel any better, I'll climb in beside Richie in bed and stay with him for the rest of the night if he has any relapses, now will you shut up so I can go back to sleep?"

"I'll be quiet," Duncan somberly answered, "I just don't want him to go through anymore than he has to."

Methos picked his pillow up from the floor and went over to the bed. Richie was laid straight out on the right side, Methos drew back the covers and slipped in beside him. Richie didn't move and made no acknowledgement that he was aware of somebody else being in the bed. Methos hoped Richie slept through the rest of the night and would be more eager to cooperate the next morning.

* * *

The clock struck the hour, 3 in the morning, all was quiet and all were asleep in the loft. Duncan remained asleep on the couch and Methos and Richie rested peacefully, side by side in the bed, all oblivious to the world around them at that time.

Kronos stood next to the bed watching Richie as he slept. Richie was as oblivious to his arrival as he was to everything else around him.

"My son," he said, "You look more like your mother every day."

He knelt down by Richie and smoothed back the curls that were starting to slowly grow back and he kissed Richie.

"I'm so sorry about everything you've had to go through," he said.

"What're you doing here?"

Kronos looked up and saw that Methos was awake. He went around to the other side of the bed and sat down on Methos' feet. "I came to see my son."

"Well now you've seen him," Methos replied, "And I for one hope you appreciate everything I've gone through today to try and help him, _and_ you."

"I do," Kronos answered, "Thank you."

"Now what're you going to do?" Methos asked.

"Don't worry about that," he said.

"I think I have a right to know, I spend the day tearing out his insides and making a wreck out of him because you say he needs to remember you existed, well he remembers now and the damage is done," Methos said.

"The damage was done long before now," Kronos replied, "This is my chance to try and undo some of it."

"How?" Methos asked.

"I have my ways," Kronos said.

"I'm aware of your ways," Methos said, "That's why I wonder if it'll do Richie much good."

"I took care of him before, Methos, I can do it again," Kronos told him, "I know you resent me for what I made you do, and you have every right to hate me…"

"Not for me," Methos responded, "For Richie's sake, if you put him through anymore hell than he's already had to experience…"

"He'll be alright, Methos, you said it yourself, it won't be instantaneous, parts of it are going to take time, but I'll handle it now," Kronos said, "You can have him back in the morning."

Kronos moved to stand up but Methos reached out and grabbed Kronos by the wrist.

"Wait," he said.

"What's the matter?" Kronos asked.

There was something that had been sitting heavy on Methos' mind all day. He wasn't sure why but all day long he'd had a horrible feeling that this might be the last time he got to see his brother, in this life anyway. Just when he'd started to get used to having his brother back in his life, even posthumously, he feared this was to be the end of it.

"Go on to sleep, Methos," Kronos said.

Methos shook his head, "I can't. If I do, you're going to disappear again…and I might not see you again."

Kronos seemed to understand where his brother was going, but he neither confirmed nor denied Methos' worries.

"Go to sleep, Methos," he said again.

Methos knew there was no use in arguing with his brother, as much as he hated to do it, he wasn't going to fight.

"Wait," he said as he grabbed Kronos' wrist again.

"What is it?" Kronos asked.

Methos' eyes which were usually narrow slants were wide open now, with fear and terror and uncertainty as he looked up at Kronos and asked him, "Am I ever going to see you again?"

Kronos smiled a little at his brother and said only in response, "Remember the letter."

With that, he drew the covers up around Methos' chest and kissed him, then he stood up and went over to the other side of the bed. Methos hated himself for it but he did as he was told and he laid back and closed his eyes. His mind was scrambling, what was Kronos talking about, what letter? And then, in the moments before sleep took him, he remembered the letter he'd received shortly after Kronos' first visit with him. It had been months since he had seen that letter and now he wasn't sure what it had said, but he was able to recall one particular line of it.

"_We may be separated by the realms of the living and the dead, but I'll always be close by if you ever need me."_

It was then that sleep took him again and once again Methos was oblivious to his surroundings.

* * *

Richie felt half asleep and half awake; he wasn't sure if he'd actually been to sleep yet but he felt that he couldn't be too far off from it. He turned over on his side and rolled into the middle of the bed and laid against the pillows and felt as though he could stay here forever.

"Wake up, Richie."

Who was calling him? It wasn't a voice he recognized, and yet there was something to it that sounded familiar. He tried to think, where had he heard it before?"

"Come on Richie, wake up."

Richie felt somebody touch him and he decided he might as well open his eyes and get it over with. He looked up and the first thing he realized was that he wasn't in the loft anymore. He didn't know where he was but the room was black, not by darkness alone; in fact the room seemed to be dimly lit from some source of light that he couldn't see. But the walls were black, the ceiling was black, the sheets on the bed were black as well. The room wasn't anything that Richie could ever recall seeing before in his life. What in the hell was going on?

"Nice to see you're up."

Richie turned around and he froze with terror as he saw standing before him, the same man he saw in the picture Methos showed him. This was Kronos, it had to be, there was no question in Richie's mind about that, but he was too paralyzed with fear to think about what was going to happen now.


	7. Chapter 7

Kronos took a step towards Richie, and the boy fell back against the bed. He looked up at Kronos with wide eyes full of shock and confusion and fear and Kronos knew all the questions that were going through his head. He was careful not to make any sudden movements lest he terrify his son anymore than he already had with this sudden appearance. If everything else that had gone wrong in Richie's life up till now hadn't mentally scarred him beyond repair, Kronos had an idea this would definitely do it. But after coming this far, he knew there was no turning back.

"It's been a long time," he said, his voice an uncertain tone but with a hint of assuredness, "How are you feeling?"

Richie didn't answer; he couldn't, he was frozen and caught between horror and awe. He didn't know what to do.

Kronos reached for him but Richie moved back towards the bed's headboard to get away.

"It's alright, Richie, I'm not going to hurt you," he said.

Richie said nothing but the distant look in his eyes said that he wasn't sure what to believe. Kronos took another step towards him, "You know who I am?"

He nodded slightly, "Kronos…"

Kronos nodded in response, "Yes."

He sat down beside Richie and almost laughed at how terrified Richie looked but he knew it wasn't funny. He was certain; if nothing else that he'd gone through in the whole day had pushed him over the edge, this might very well do it.

"If your mother could see you now…"

At the mention of his mother, something crossed over in Richie's eyes that went from shock to remembrance and pain.

"You really knew her?" Richie asked.

"I did, and I'm sorry," Kronos said, "I didn't know she was going to die otherwise I never would've left the two of you."

Richie pushed himself up onto his knees and he looked Kronos in the eyes as he asked him, "Am I dead too?"

Kronos smiled, "Don't worry, Richie, you're still very much alive. I just thought it'd be a bit easier to talk at my place rather than your current residence."

Richie started looking around the room and he asked, "W-where exactly is this?"

"Relax, it's a few thousand miles north of where you're thinking," Kronos answered.

Richie started to reach for Kronos but hesitated and he asked, "Does it hurt to be dead?"

Kronos shook his head, "No, not for the time being anyway, I think that's going to come later."

Richie extended his arm further and finally dug the fingers of his hand into Kronos' shoulder and leaned into him and started crying. Kronos held Richie in his arms and said nothing; he knew that this was emotionally a very exhausting day for the poor boy and he didn't know what to think anymore.

"It's alright, Richie," he said as he sat the boy back down on the bed, "I know what you've gone through, and I'm sorry for it."

"Kronos," Richie was struggling to speak now, "Kronos…" he dared himself to look up at the man who had proclaimed himself his father, "Did you love me? Did you…did you really love me?"

"Of course I did, Richie," he answered.

"You were the only one," Richie said as he lowered his gaze.

"Not true, your mother loved you," Kronos said.

"And she didn't have to because she wasn't my real mother," Richie replied, "I know…"

Kronos pulled Richie closer to him and kissed him, "Don't ever say that. Emily was more your mother than anybody ever was."

"But she wasn't my real mom," Richie cried.

"Of course she was," Kronos told him, "She couldn't have loved you anymore than if she'd given birth to you herself. Believe me, there's a difference in a blood parent and a real one."

Richie wanted to ask Kronos how he knew that since he came from the same beginning as Richie had, but he didn't.

"And you…" Richie had trouble bringing himself to actually say the words, "You were my father."

"I certainly tried to be," Kronos told him, "I always loved you very much, I know I had a God awful way of showing it though…abandoning you and your mother, and then not finding you for 14 years."

"But you took me back," Richie said through his tears, "You took me back…I was the one who blew it by leaving the second time."

"No, Richie, you did what you had to do," Kronos said.

"I'm sorry," Richie said, "I shouldn't have left…I shouldn't have…if I'd stayed…"

Kronos grew very firm then and he grabbed Richie by the jaw to make the boy look into his eyes as he spoke, "Don't say that, don't _ever_ think you did the wrong thing by leaving. You wouldn't have been safe with me, Richie, I was a very unstable man in life, that's another reason why I let you down. That's why I left in the first place; I knew the time was coming that I wouldn't be able to take care of you anymore, so I left before I did anything to hurt you or your mother."

"But maybe if I'd stayed, I could've helped you," Richie told him.

Kronos shook his head somberly, "Nobody could help me, Richie, by that time the damage had run its course. You deserved better than what you had for a father."

"But you were the only one who ever wanted me," Richie said as he tightened his hold to Kronos, afraid to let go for fear of losing him again.

"A long time ago that was once true," Kronos responded, "But you're not alone anymore…I might be dead but I'm not the only person in your life anymore."

Richie continued to cry as he told Kronos, "But everybody else who ever did is dead too…Emily died, Tessa was killed, Gary was…" his voice started to break, "He was murdered…who…" he buried his face in Kronos' shoulder, "Who's left?"

"My brother for one," Kronos answered.

Richie pulled back and looked at Kronos with disbelieving eyes, "What?"

"Methos," Kronos nodded his head, "Don't give me that look, he loves you, he just doesn't like to let people know…get to be his age and you start to get a bit cynical about that."

"I just don't believe it," Richie said.

"Richie, if it weren't true, why would he have done what he did today?" Kronos asked, "I don't want you being sore at Methos for telling you about me, I put him up to it, but he tried to make it as easy for you to take as possible, because he doesn't like seeing you hurt, nor do I."

Richie didn't sound as though he believed what Kronos was telling him. "You're serious? Methos….he loves me?"

"Very much," Kronos answered, "And he's not the only one."

Richie looked at him with eyes now pink from crying that were full of interest and curiosity as he asked, "Who else?"

"Jezebel for another, you know she simply adores you," Kronos said.

Richie's face started to turn a shade of pink as well as he remembered Kronos' wife, whom he had met a few months ago.

"And that friend of yours, the bartender…if you pay attention, Richie, you'll find out you're not as alone in this life as you think," Kronos explained.

"And what about you?" Richie asked.

"Me? Well, I'll always love you of course…and I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Methos…you know it hit him very hard when I died. Despite all the rotten things I've done to him over the years, I still loved him, and I know he felt the same way, he could just never bring himself to say it because it hurt him too much. We didn't have a lot of time to even try and make amends for the past because we didn't see each other for 2,000 years, and when we finally met again…well you know what happened from there," Kronos told him.

"I remember," Richie said, "Methos didn't come back for over a month, and when he did, he looked like hell."

"He'd just lost his only surviving family, and he stuck himself with the job of burying us all," Kronos told Richie, "That probably wouldn't have been so bad except he spent the next month sleeping out beside us all…you'd be surprised what that will do to a person…he was so depressed when he lost us, I don't think anybody was sure he would survive."

"Really?" Richie asked.

"We may only be killed by losing our heads, but even Immortals can _die_ from loneliness. Trust me, many is the Immortal still walking around who stopped living a long time ago because they lost whatever they had to live for, and Methos was almost one of them."

"But he's alright now, isn't he?" Richie asked.

"As much as he will be," Kronos replied, "And that in itself was no easy task. You don't want to know what I had to put him through to bring him back to his senses. It about killed him having to let go…until he found out he really didn't have to. I'm still going to be around…" he smiled at Richie, "It'll take a lot more than just dying to keep me out of somebody's life. That said, I don't want you thinking either that just because I'm gone you're going to be alone in the world. You know that's not true."

"I suppose so," Richie answered, "There's one more thing I want to know."

"What's that?"

"Methos said that you found me in a trashcan when I was little."

Kronos nodded.

"It's not that I don't appreciate it but _why_ did you take me home with you?" Richie wanted to know.

Kronos met his gaze and answered, "I don't know. I really don't know. I'd seen a lot of God awful things that are beyond any words that exist, happen to people for no reason, but I never saw anybody in the situation you were in. I may have been a heartless bastard in my life but I wasn't about to let you die and be stuck as an 18 month old Immortal until somebody put you out of your misery."

Richie didn't know what to say so he decided to be smart and say nothing. After a minute he responded, "I think I'm losing my mind."

"Methos said the same thing," Kronos told him, "And for a while he was very convincing about it…but you see how he is now, does he look like somebody who's gone crazy?"

"I don't know," Richie answered, "I don't know what one looks like."

Kronos laughed and tightened his arm around Richie's back. "You know, when you came back the second time, there'd be nights you woke up screaming and didn't recognize anything. Do you remember that?"

Richie shook his head.

"Well, I remember one time I went in to see what was the matter, and you were nowhere to be found. I looked behind the door, in the closet, out the window, but I knew you were nearby…I found you under the bed, you were talking to yourself, rambling a bunch of incoherent things. I'm sure that at the time, you weren't even aware I was in the room although I was about six inches away from you." He shook his head in remembrance, "It must have taken half an hour to get you out from under there and even then you…didn't have any idea where you were. I used to lie awake at nights wondering 'if Emily were still alive…what could she possibly do for something like this?', if anybody knew an answer I'm sure it would've been her. She always seemed to know how to handle you."

"I guess she had a lot of practice," Richie said.

"She did," Kronos told him.

Richie looked at Kronos and asked him, "Are you ever sorry that you took me in?"

Kronos shook his head, "How could I be? For a long time you were the only good thing in my life, don't you know that?"

Taking some comfort in that answer, Richie leaned into Kronos' shoulder again and replied, "Well everybody else who ever did was sorry they had by the end of it."

"Well I never did," Kronos said, "You were never any trouble."

Richie pulled back and looked up at Kronos with wide, disbelieving eyes, "How can you say that? After everything I put you through?"

Kronos smiled at Richie and pulled the boy close to him again and said in response, "After all the years it took in the beginning to straighten Methos out, putting up with your nightmares was nothing."

"What about when I got arrested?" Richie asked.

"Well that was definitely no trouble because you never told me," Kronos said, "And why you didn't I _still_ don't understand."

Richie sighed and leaned in close to his father again and said, "I'm still sorry I left you."

"Don't be," he answered, "You made the right decision. I know it doesn't seem like it now and it's impossible to understand because you weren't there…but if you were, you would've hated it, and me, and yourself for staying."

Richie didn't say anything in response to that, he didn't know if there was anything to be said. He stayed where he was and rested his head on Kronos' shoulder and closed his eyes; taking solace in the fact that in this very moment, he was back with his father, where he should've been a long time ago. And nothing and nobody was going to take him away again.

"Kronos."

"What?"

"…Thanks."

"For what?"

"Everything you've done," Richie answered, "If you hadn't helped me when you had, I think…I think I'd be pretty messed up right about now."

Kronos laughed, "Yeah, that's probably a safe bet."

Richie looked around the room and noticed it wasn't so dark anymore. In fact it was starting to become light, and that made him think that whatever time it was here, it had to be nearing morning back on the other side, meaning there probably wasn't much time left for him to stay here. As the thought of losing Kronos again entered his mind, he subconsciously tightened his hold on the other Immortal so as not to slip away.

"Now don't get yourself upset again," Kronos told him.

"I can't help it," Richie replied.

Kronos knew he couldn't, this whole ordeal had been building up since before Richie even knew what had happened.

"Richie…"

"Don't say it," Richie was starting to lose it again, "Just don't say it…"

Kronos felt Richie tighten his grip and lean further into him than before, and he knew Richie was dreading the moment when he would have to leave.

"Richie, you know you have to go back."

"I don't want to," Richie responded.

"This is familiar," Kronos commented as he stroked through Richie's short hair.

"Kronos, I'm scared," Richie confessed, "I don't want to go back."

"I know."

Kronos forced Richie to look at him as he spoke.

"I love you, Richie."

"I love you too," Richie said, not sure where this was going.

"I know you don't want to leave, I know that none of this has been easy for you."

"It's not just that," Richie told him, "I don't want to leave you."

"You're not going to, Richie, not _really_…I'm going to tell you what I told my brother…I may be dead, this is true, but it hasn't done much to stop me in the way of coming and going from here to the other side. Actually I've found death to be quite liberating…makes it a lot easier to get around…in such, if ever the time comes up that you need me, I'll always be within reach. Anytime you need me, I can just drop in for a little…" he smiled at Richie mischievously, "Posthumous visit."

"Are you serious?"

"Rarely in my life was I more serious than I am now," Kronos explained, "You see, Richie, for Immortals, death really isn't as final as everybody thinks."

"I still feel terrible for leaving you again, that's how this whole thing got started."

Kronos smiled at him and told him, "Don't worry, you'll see it's not so terrible when you get back. You'll be back here soon enough so don't go pressing your luck with it."

Richie leaned his head against Kronos' chest and responded, "But I miss you."

"I miss you too, Richie, but your time's not up yet, you've got to go back now. Richie, you have an opportunity most people will never have, but even for our kind, time runs out prematurely, so don't go looking for anymore trouble than you can help."

Richie said nothing and just nodded his head. His eyes were starting to burn and he could just tell it wouldn't be long before he fell asleep. Kronos sensed this as well and pushed Richie back against the mattress and drew the sheets up over him. Richie could see everything starting to blur and he knew he hadn't much time left. There were still so many things that he wanted to say to this man. He wanted to tell Kronos that he loved him, that he hated him, that he despised him for abandoning he and his mother all those years ago, that he didn't care if he never went back to the other side. But no words came out, and it turned out he needn't bother trying. Kronos knew, and Richie knew that all was said between the two that had needed to be said on this night. If what Kronos had said was true, Richie knew he would get another chance later on if there was anything he forgot now.

The last thing Richie saw when he looked up was a blurred vision of Kronos standing over him; more or less the same way he had woken up. Only now, Richie knew that the nightmare was over. But still, he wasn't quite ready to go back alone just yet. He grabbed Kronos' wrist and asked him not to leave; to stay with him a while longer. Kronos pulled down the sheets on the other side of the bed and slipped in alongside his son and reassuringly kept a tight hold on Richie's hand as he started to drift away. Richie couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and everything went black and then everything was perfectly quiet.

* * *

It was early morning and the sun was just starting to shine through the windows of the loft. Methos awoke and staying on his side of the bed, took in the sights before him. He saw the glare of the sunlight as it lit up the room, he could hear birds outside the window, and he just _knew_ that this was going to be a better day than the previous one. Turning over onto his side, Methos saw Richie asleep in the other side of the bed. Richie looked as though he hadn't moved an inch the whole night; he still lay flat on his back and all smoothed out like a corpse. But today, there was something different about the boy's appearance. Even with Richie being asleep still, Methos could see the kid looked different today, he looked somehow…_better_.

Richie rolled onto his side in his sleep; one of his eyes opened once, then again, and then the other eye joined it and he saw there was someone else in the bed with him, and he started to smile.

"Hey," he said quietly as he came around.

"Good morning," Methos replied, "How're you feeling?"

"I'm great," Richie answered as he sat up.

"Glad to hear it," Methos said, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Richie nodded, "I had some weird dreams though, but I didn't wake up or anything."

"Well that's good to know," Methos told him as he sat up as well, "You're looking better today."

Richie didn't say anything for a minute and his gaze didn't seem to be set on anything in particular. He appeared to be considering something to say, and after a short while, he decided to go through with it.

"Methos?"

"What is it, Richie?"

"Uh…" Richie had quite a bit of trouble bringing himself to make eye contact with Methos as he asked, "D—do you love me?"

"What?" Methos started to laugh. But then he saw Richie was most serious in his questioning.

"I had a dream last night…Kronos said that you loved me…do you?"

Now it was Methos' turn to be silent for a moment. A dream, he thought, and he had a good idea as to what sort of dream. He didn't speak as he considered an answer before settling for, "Sure, why not?"

"I'm serious," Richie told Methos as they got out of bed.

Methos didn't say anything in response for a moment, and finally he said, "I know…and I do…believe that. I know, I could be more believable in it, but…get to be my age and you're not always so clear on things you should be. You know how it gets, you get so tired of not being able to trust anyone, so…sick to death of the people you're supposed to be able to trust, turning on you…and after a while you start to just think 'oh well I'll never get attached to anybody else so it can't happen again'. But we should know better than that, it always happens. I especially should know better because I've tried the longest to believe it. I do well in convincing people that nothing can effect me, that I'm just some heartless old bastard only looking out for himself…I should be so lucky. I keep hoping one day I'll reach the point that nothing surprises me anymore, nothing can make me feel anything anymore. But I know that's not going to happen, I still keep finding myself in situations where I let the most deceitful organ in my body," he pounded his heart, "Do the thinking for me…and I know I'm going to regret it and I usually do…I suppose the two of us are more alike than we'd be comfortable in thinking. But Kronos was right, I do love you…I'm sorry that I wasn't the one to find you when you were younger…maybe if I had, you'd have had something more of a stable life than you have."

"You mean it?" Richie asked, a bit suspicious, "You really love me?"

Methos nodded, "Of course I do."

Methos saw the painful look in Richie's eyes as the young man explained, "Very few people have ever said that in my whole life…whenever somebody does, I like to be sure I heard them right."

"You did," Methos told him.

Richie took a step closer to Methos and started to reach out to him but hesitated. Methos grabbed Richie and pulled him close to him for a minute and he heard Richie mumble a "Thanks."

"Are you feeling better now?" Methos asked.

Richie nodded and pulled back.

"Good, why don't you go get cleaned up, and I'll straighten up things in here."

Richie nodded again and headed off to the bathroom. Methos made the bed look presentable again and he went over to the couch and saw MacLeod was still asleep.

"MacLeod," Methos whispered as he knelt down beside Duncan, "MacLeod," he said again quietly, then he tried a third time, "MACLEOD!"

With a scream, Duncan awoke and fell off the couch and onto the floor. "What happened, what's going on?"

Methos chuckled to himself and replied, "Good morning."

Duncan looked up at him, "What's going on? Where's Richie?"

"Washing up, he's alright, MacLeod. He got through the night fine and I think he's better now."

Duncan let out a long breath as he got up and said, "That's a relief, but are you sure?"

"Well, I think he's still going to come across a couple of rough corners in the process but yes…I'm confident he's going to be alright now," Methos said, "Now that the truth's out and he's had time to take it all in and think about it. Now that he knows he wasn't always alone and unwanted…you wouldn't understand that because you were raised as the chieftain's son and everybody made a big deal over you. People like Richie and myself however always get kicked to the curb when we're outlived our usefulness to whoever took us in. Because that's the only reason anybody did, not because they cared about us but because they had a use for us for their own gain. That's why it was easier to come from me because Richie's life and mine really haven't been all that different. Do you understand that?"

"I think I do," Duncan replied.

"Good," Methos said, "Because I'm still not much in the mood for having to repeat myself."

The phone rang and Methos went to answer it. MacLeod couldn't hear who was on the other end of the line but he heard Methos' part of it, which wasn't much, mostly a bunch of 'uh-huh's' and 'I see's'.

"Okay," Methos concluded, "We'll see you then," and he hung up.

"Who was it?" Duncan asked.

"That?" Methos asked, "That was Jezebel. That woman's proving all the time to be more and more like her husband. I told her not to get involved in the matter but she says she hopped a plane heading out this way from Oregon and she's going to be meeting with us in half an hour. Says she wants to see how Richie's doing and to see if there's anything she particularly could do."

"Oh boy…and might that be?"

"I really couldn't say," Methos replied, "As long as I've known her she's always been very philosophical…but these days she seems to have traded it in for psychological…of course she doesn't let that get in the way of her intelligence and what she knows, and what she knows is people, people like Richie who have suffered most of their lives so she especially would probably know what to do with him."

Methos went over to the bathroom door and pounded on it a couple of times. Over the running water he heard Richie call out, "Yeah?"

Methos opened the door and stuck his head into the steamed room, "It's just me. Jezebel just called, she said she wants to meet us at the airport in half an hour to see her and that includes you."

"Okay."

Methos closed the door behind him and he seemed to think of something then.

"You know, MacLeod," he said, "Jezebel really deserves more credit than she gets in most regards. She knew before anybody else that Kronos was Richie's father…you remember that day she was here and she said how Richie looked like him?"

"I remember," Duncan responded, still not amused by that incident.

"When I told her the news, she wasn't much surprised at all…she said that she knew there was something to Richie that reminded her of Kronos…I personally can't see what it is but I suppose after being raised by the man for several years, that's bound to happen."

"And what did she have to say about it all?" Duncan asked.

"Not much, she just wanted to know if there was anything she could do to help. I told her it would be best if she stayed where she was but…"

"She never listens," Duncan said.

"She has her own mind and she uses it, that's why Kronos married her," Methos told him, "Now, we better get ready to go meet her at the airport."

In his mind Methos was thinking of how oddly branched his immediate family tree was, that he knew about. Apparently with one relative he'd inherited several others; previously his three brothers were the only surviving family he'd had, only now from one brother he'd also gotten a sister-in-law, a nephew, and, he thought as he glanced over at MacLeod, a surrogate little brother with a swollen head. Damn but how odd, and quickly, life could spin from one sordid event to another.

A few minutes later, Richie emerged from the bathroom clean and looking presentable for the day.

"Let's go," Methos said to him.

"Go where?"

"You know how you've always said you wanted a family?" Methos said to him, "Well now you've got one…one big psychotic, dysfunctional family that we'll be lucky if nobody kills anybody else in their sleep…" he leaned in to Richie and said in his ear, "Particularly if Jezebel manages not to kill MacLeod….Anyway," he said loud enough for both men to hear him, "Jezebel's plane lands in about fifteen minutes and she made it plenty obvious that she intends to stay in town for quite a while so I would suggest we don't keep her waiting. She's been very easy to put up with so far but don't forget who she was married to and don't think those two didn't rub off on each other. Let's go."

The three men headed downstairs and out of the dojo to go to the airport. On the way there, Richie thought about what Methos had told him. And he also thought about what Kronos had told him the night before. He knew that the whole ordeal from last night had felt like a dream but he just knew that it couldn't possibly be. He could never try explaining it to Duncan because it wouldn't make any sense to him, but maybe Methos would believe him; for that matter he thought, perhaps Jezebel would too, he recalled she seemed to be very much in tune with things nobody else was. He also remembered Methos' comment about now belonging in a large, dysfunctional family, and as he considered what that meant, he liked the idea. As he glanced over at Duncan he was aware that the idea was not without its flaws but he guessed most families had those they could overlook.

But there was something else to the whole thing that made Richie suspect the worst was probably over. He knew for fact now that whatever happened from this point on, there would be somebody watching over him. And he also knew that when and if the day should come that he lose in a fight, at least he knew where he'd be going, and he already had an idea about some of the people he would be meeting up with again. Knowing that was what really made this easy for him now; that he wouldn't have to just guess anymore about what if anything there was after this life. As much as he dreaded always being hunted by other Immortals, he feared even more that when the time came he lost his head, that his death would prove to be one dark, empty void. At least now he was aware that such was not the case; and he already knew one interesting person he could look forward to seeing again when his time was up, and having this knowledge suddenly took most of the fear out of the thought of dying someday. He remembered Kronos' warning to return to his life and enjoy it as his time would end soon enough. But at least now, Richie thought, he had something to look forward to when time ran out, and that was returning back home to his father.

For now he would make the most of whatever time he had, and being Immortal he knew it was more than most others would get. It was then that Richie remembered something else Kronos had told him the night before; about how even in death he was quite free to come and go from the afterlife to this one if ever he was needed. And it was then that Richie realized what it had been that restored Methos' will to life; knowing that death couldn't stop the people who had loved him from remaining in his life. For a long time, Richie hadn't anyone in his own to care about him; at least now he knew otherwise. And as he considered all the people who were in his life now because everything had happened the way it had; an idea came to him that perhaps things from here on out wouldn't be so horrible after all.

A similar thought was racing around in Methos' mind as he too considered the family he had now as a result of everything happening the way it had for them all. He had been so worried the day before and the night before, for some reason he still couldn't figure out, that after Kronos' business with his son was taken care of, that Methos wouldn't see or hear from him again. But now he thought he knew better. Death hadn't been enough to keep Kronos away from him as it was; there was no reason to suggest it would start to do so now. Methos knew that his brothr would linger around for quite some time whenever he felt like making an appearance; and sometimes he would know when such times came, and other times he wouldn't have a clue when his brother was poking around. But at least he knew he could still see his brother, and communicate with him, and he hoped that one day the same could be said for Silas and Caspian as well. For the time being however, he knew they would all have their hands full just putting up with his sister-in-law, so he was thankful for the two families he belonged to; the one that existed in the here and now, and the other, much older family who was waiting for him and watching him from the other side. And he hoped that death wouldn't prove as final for his other brothers either; he hoped someday to meet with them all again, and he hoped it would be soon.

The End


End file.
